What If
by ILETUDRIVE
Summary: The Cassadines have finally won. Hell has frozen over and I'm finally updating. Surprise! I've managed to vanquish the evil Cassadine influence for the moment and return with more of my fic. I hope you still want to read it. Summary inside.
1. Who the Hell is Elizabeth?

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Prologue

Author's Note: Lucky never "died" in the fire. He and Liz stayed together, graduated high school, and moved to New York, like they has planned.

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~April 13, 2001~

Jason Morgan pulled his motorcycle to the side of the road, and took his helmet off to look down at the city spread before him. Port Charles was looming large and he wasn't quite ready to drive into town yet. It wasn't like him to reflect, or to let himself think about the past. But he needed a minute before he went on and started everything up again.

He smiled wryly at himself when he realized that he had missed Port Charles. Of all the places he had been and everything he had seen this place was still home to him. Except for a brief three weeks in August he had been away from Port Charles for over a year.

Shaking his head at the unusual melancholy he found himself in, he pulled on his helmet, and started his bike. Pulling back on the road to Port Charles he had a feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same again.

****

~Lucky~

Lucky Spencer walked through the wrought iron gates without seeing them. His mind as usual was focused on the past. His footsteps followed a path he had walked too many times in the past few years. He slowed coming to a bench he had placed here almost two years before. His hands clutched convulsively on the white roses he had brought, the roses he always brought.

He sat on the bench unmindful of the dampness as the rain began to fall again. Blindly he stared at the ground in front of him. A thorn from the roses had pricked him and his blood mixed with the rain and ran down his hand.

It had been two years, two years today, and yet it was still only yesterday, a minute ago that everything in his life had changed. He blanked his mind; he had become very good at that, and just stared.

Emily Bowen-Quatermaine walked up slowly behind Lucky. She was both relieved that she had found him, and sad that she had found him here. 

"Lucky." She whispered softly placing her hands on his shoulders.

Lucky didn't move or respond, she knew he was lost in the memories. Sighing she walked around the bench and sat beside him and waited for him to come back to her.

Her eyes focused on what he was staring at. How many times had she stared at that headstone and wished the words would change?

Elizabeth Imogene Webber

Beloved Granddaughter and Friend

She left this world too young and with two hearts.

November 3, 1980 to April 13, 1999

****

~Jakes~

Jason walked into Jakes and immediately saw her behind the bar. "Hey Jake."

"Jason" Jake turned and smiled in pleasure, "how's my favorite sometime tenant?" Her hands were already getting him the beer she knew he wanted.

Jason took a long pull off of the bottle and flashed her a rare smile, "Doing good. You got a room?"

"Your usual is open." She said dropping the key on the bar. Well things were going to be interesting around here for a while, she thought watching him palm the key and head up the stairs.

Jason dropped his bags in the room and pulled out his cell.

__

"What" Sonny Corinthos voice growled into the phone.

"I'm here."

__

"I didn't expect you until tomorrow," Sonny's voice lightened somewhat when he recognized his best friends voice. He kept his voice casual but he was happy.

"Yeah, I got an early start. Has anything new happened?"

__

"No there's nothing new. Carly would you go upstairs this is business."

Jason smiled hearing Carly's less than quiet response to that request. "Does she know I'm back?"

__

"No" Sonny kept his answers brief very aware of his wife's glare and ever-eager eavesdropping ability.

"Any reason why she or anyone shouldn't know I'm back?"

__

"No this time, I need you to be conspicuous. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye." Jason closed his phone and sighed. He really hadn't felt like coming back here yet, but Sonny needed him, so here he was. He put the phone in his jacket and walked downstairs to play some pool.

****

~Penthouse~

"So who are you going to see tomorrow?" Carly barely let Sonny hang up before she pounced.

"Carly back off its business."

"Business right. It's that neurotic lawyer of yours Alexis isn't it?" Carly marched up to Sonny trying to read his eyes. Damn'it why couldn't she ever read his eyes?

"Carly, I said it was business. Let it go." He walked past her to the bar and poured a scotch. Hoping that for once his volatile wife would let it drop. He was prepared, however, to be disappointed, and he was.

"Let it go! All she has to do is break a nail and you're over there. I'm your wife and she sees you more than I do."

Sonny pinched his nose trying to block out her latest rampage.

"She wants you Sonny. You Sonny. Don't give me that crap about her being married, that doesn't matter she still **wants** you and you play right in her hands."

"Enough Carly." Sonny exploded, slamming the glass on the table, spilling its contents everywhere.

"Enough! Your right Sonny I have had enough." She yelled, storming past him and up the stairs.

That went well, Sonny thought sourly when he heard her door slam. Sighing he poured himself another drink.

****

~Cemetery~

"It just isn't right that she's dead." Lucky said breaking the silence.

"I know." Emily answered quietly taking his hand in hers.

"She was only 18, she didn't deserve this, to… to be caught up in a war that wasn't even her making." His voice broke off he kept seeing her the way she had been that last night.

"Lucky you can't keep doing this to yourself. You have to let her go. It's been two years. You need…"

"It was yesterday." He broke in yelling at her.

"No Lucky it's been two years since the explosion. Two years since she died. She wouldn't have wanted you to mourn her like this. You have to let her go," Emily argued, with tears streaming down her face. She prayed that this time she would get through to him. That tonight after all this time he would finally listen to her.

"Let Go! I'll never let go. She was my life. She still is my life. Even though she is gone she still has my heart." Lucky continued tearing into her, "You wouldn't know about that type of love or commitment. Your content to be someone's doormat and call it love. So don't you ever give me advice about love."

Emily reeled and watched Lucky storm away from her through the cemetery. Boneless she collapsed back on the bench. "Elizabeth he's broken without you," she whispered before breaking into sobs.

****

~Jakes~

Jason pocketed the money he took from a guy when he won yet another game. Briefly, very briefly he let himself remember another pool game. Still in the memory he jerked slightly when a hand slapped down a $20 on the table. That's what happened when you look backwards, he thought to himself, your caught unaware in the present.

Jason looked down at the twenty, then slowly raised his eyes over the frame of the woman standing next to him.

"$20 is the going rate, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Jason muttered, and felt his body tighten in response when she brushed by him to select a cue, from the rack.

"Well it's your table, going to break anytime soon?" she asked with laugh.

Her tone had him glancing at her, as he lined up the break. "Your awful impatient to lose your money." He shot back and opened the game sending two solids and one stripe into the pockets. 

"Solids." He said with a smirk lining up his next shot.

He felt her eyes on him while he made the next two shots. He looked up in time to see her take a drink from his beer, she winked at him, and Jason looked back at the table. He tried a tricky combination and missed.

She walked to the table, which was littered with stripes. Smiling slightly she bent over the table and lined up her shot, then another and another. She went to move around the table for another shot, when she came up to him he didn't move out of her way.

"You're in my path." She told him, looking up at him with laughing blue eyes. He backed away slightly.

She bent over the table and made the next shot, backing up slowly so she brushed against him when she moved. Damn'it she did that on purpose, stifling a groan. Reluctantly he pulled his eyes off of her and focused on the game he was about to lose.

Lucky paused outside of Jakes, he needed to stem the memories. Lately the only way he could do that was to look at the world trough the bottom of a glass.

Jakes was crowded, but Lucky didn't notice his focus was on the bar. While he waited at the bar, he heard a woman's laugh. He tensed recognizing it. For the longest time after the explosion, he heard her voice, her laugh, or thought he saw her, he would rush towards her but she was never there. He refused to look anymore.

"Give me a boilermaker Jake, and keep them coming." Lucky said dispiritedly claiming a stool, keeping his back to the room. His mouth tightened when he thought he heard her laugh again.

****

~The Pool Table~

"You were saying something about me being in a hurry to lose money, but it seems to me I still have mine and soon will have yours too." She said with a smile and a laugh, "Eight ball corner pocket."

Jason watched her sink the shot, he shook his head and half sat, half leaned against the pool table, his back towards the door. She came up beside him and held out her hand for the money. He looked down at her hand then back to her dancing blue eyes. Shrugging he pulled out a twenty for her.

When he put the $20 in her hand, he felt the electricity spark between them. "Double or nothing?" he asked keeping his hand around hers.

She looked at him, and pulled her long brown hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. "How about we raise the stakes?" She asked with a smile.

Lucky paused with his drink halfway to his mouth his eyes glued to the mirror over the bar. It couldn't be. His breath was coming in little gasps, he focused on the woman by the pool table who was talking to man he could only see from behind. He heard Elizabeth's laugh again and realized it was coming out of her mouth. His vision began to go to black and fighting back the darkness he tried to even his breathing. Elizabeth her name screamed through his head as he registered her profile in the mirror.

"Well if you think you can't handle it. Maybe I'll find someone else who wants to play with me." She answered herself, when Jason just continued to look at her.

She shifted as if to move away from him, when quick as a snake Jason's right arm whipped out and slipped behind her back. He jerked her around so she was facing him, moving his leg out of the way so she was nestled between his thighs. With him mostly sitting they were almost height-to-height, she had time to take a quick breath and then they were mouth-to-mouth.

Even though he was braced for it the fire exploded in his blood, his mouth cruised over hers. There was no finesse or seduction here, just raw power and need. She matched his need with her own, wrapping her arms around his neck, and burying her hands in his hair. His right hand tangled in her mass of soft brown hair and he tilted her head changing the angle of the kiss to deepen it. His tongue slipped past her lips, into the warm, sweet, cavern of her mouth. There their tongues met, danced, and mated as they tasted one another. Did she moan or was it him? It didn't matter, she was here.

Lucky stared from the bar. He saw the man grab Elizabeth and kiss her, he watched her wrap herself around him and kiss him back. His hand tightened on the glass until it broke in his hand, and he never flinched, his eyes never left the mirror, where he was watching his fiancé, whom he thought was dead, kiss another. He was terrified if he turned to look that she would disappear.

Jason finally broke the kiss, when the throbbing inside of him became painful. He rested his head on hers trying to catch his breath. His heart was exploding, and there was a roar in his ears, that he was becoming used to. That roar was there every time he kissed her. His blood thickened every time he touched her.

"Morgan this does not look like New Zealand."

Her voice broke into his musings. With a wry smile he pulled back and glanced around the bar, "You're right not a kiwi in sight."

She sighed and tried to pull out of his embrace, he let her go slowly but only so far, he kept her between his legs his arms loosely around her.

"I thought you weren't going to come here with me."

"I didn't come with you Jason. I decided on my own to visit Port Charles, New York instead of New Zealand. It had nothing to do with you."

Yeah right, he thought before speaking, "Well I can see why you would choose the rain and snow of New York over the beaches of New Zealand."

"Can it Morgan." She was determined not to smile at him.

"I am glad you're here." He began in a serious voice, his eyes never leaving her face, he saw her expression soften, "I would have found it hard to sleep alone again. I've gotten used to a bed hog who tries to kick me out of bed every night."

"Jason!" She glared at him and swatted the back of his head pulling away from him entirely. She began to move around the pool table towards the bar, "Just for that Jason you can sleep on the floor." She shot back turning to look at him.

She turned around, and came to a sudden stop so she wouldn't run into a man who had just stepped in front of her. "Excuse me." She began, her smile fading when the man refused to move. She shifted to go around him and he mirrored her movements keeping in front of her.

Lucky stared at her. It was Elizabeth she was standing there less than a foot away. Her voice was the same, her eyes were the same, her body was the same, and god her face was the same flawless beauty it had always been. It was her she was finally here, back with him where she belonged. Elizabeth Webber was finally standing before him again. He vowed this time he would never let her go.

"Elizabeth." He whispered reaching out to touch her, to confirm that she was real.

"Whose Elizabeth? And Who are you?" she asked. 


	2. Memories

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 1

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~Jakes~

"Elizabeth." He whispered reaching out to touch her, to confirm that she was real.

"Whose Elizabeth? And Who are you?" she asked. 

Lucky never heard her, in that instant before he touched her, his mind was wrenched back to a night two years ago.

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~Lukes~

**__**

~April 13, 1999~

Lucky slammed the door of the club, and hurriedly tried to lock it.

"Come on Lucky its late, the Q's are going to go crazy if I'm not home soon."

"I still can't believe Luke let me help paint his club," Nikolas said with a shake of his head.

"Well he doesn't know you were helping. I'm going to wait and spring it on him, during fight." Lucky faced his brother with a grin.

"It will be worth his anger just to see Nikolas in clothes that are actually dirty and have paint on them. I have never seen you messed up or even dirty." Elizabeth said with a smile her hand tucked in Lucky's.

Nikolas frowned at that, "I am not a neat freak."

"Please you don't even let yourself get wrinkled if you can help it." Lucky retorted walking to Nikolas's jag.

"You make me sound anal or compulsive, just because I don't roll around in the dirt."

Ever the peacemaker Emily distracted Nikolas, by trying to get the car keys out of his hand.

"What are you doing?"

"I want to drive," Emily begged, "Come on its so late no one will be on the road. Let me drive. Please."

"If she's driving, I think I'll take the bus," Elizabeth said with a smile.

"That sounds like a much safer idea." Lucky said pulling Elizabeth into an embrace. He leaned close and kissed her, only dimly aware of the argument between Nikolas and Emily. "I love you." He said when he broke the kiss.

"I love you too, Lucky."

"Hey you two enough of that. Jeez you two do that too much anyway. You've been living together for months now, isn't the honeymoon period over by now?"

"Shut up Emily," Lucky growled, his eyes never leaving Elizabeth.

Elizabeth pulled back when she heard a muffled ring coming from her bag. "Hello"

"Hello darlin, can I speak with the cowboy?"

"Sure. Lucky it's your dad." Elizabeth said holding out her phone.

"Yeah dad?"

"Cowboy, I'm glad I caught you. I need you to bring the package behind the bar to the house tomorrow when you come for breakfast with the princess. I forgot it and I need it in the morning."

"Well…"

"Thanks Cowboy, see you tomorrow."

Lucky frowned closing the phone. His father would never change. He looked down into Elizabeth's worried eyes. "Everything's okay, he just wants me to bring something to the house tomorrow that he left here. Nikolas I need to go inside for a minute."

"Wait Lucky, I'll go. I need to go back inside anyway." Elizabeth said taking the keys from his hand.

"Why what do you need?"

"Lucky there are certain things even you can't do for me. A lot of water and cold air … I need to go inside." Elizabeth answered with a laugh.

"Okay the package is behind the bar." Lucky said with a smile tugging on her hair.

He watched her walk into the club, and then jogged over to the jag where Emily and Nicholas were waiting.

"Lucky, I hate that you two are going back to New York tomorrow."

"Em you know you can come see us anytime. In fact you already do. We're happy there, we don't want to stay here. Elizabeth's break is up tomorrow and I need to get back to work."

Emily pouted as she and Nikolas walked around to the driver's side of the car. "Work HA! You just want to keep Elizabeth to yourself."

"Jealous much Nikolas?" Lucky shot back needling his brother. "You see here, I got this great life in New York, a fabulous girl who loves me, a job, an apartment, and what does the prince have? A jag and a horse. What can I say, God loves us Spencers."

"Oh God you're right Emily, he is turning into Luke."

Lucky was opening his mouth to retort when he felt his body being jerked off of his feet and propelled forward in the air. He was dimly aware of Emily's scream as both her and Nikolas fell to the ground. Lucky collapsed on the hood of the jag.

He registered a loud sound, as he laid there on the hood, stunned, trying to catch his breath ,to figure out what had happened. It took only a second for her face to pop in his head. "Elizabeth." He choked out sliding off the car to stand shakily on his feet.

He turned and looked back at Luke's. His eyes registered the fact that Luke's was no longer there but his mind couldn't comprehend it. There was a raging inferno where his father's club should have been. There was another blast from the inferno and that noise broke through Lucky's paralysis. The numbness broke when the roar crashed into him. "Elizabeth" he screamed racing towards the fire.

He was tackled from behind only feet from the inferno. So close he could feel the flames trying to reach out and burn him where he lay. He felt someone dragging him back away from the fire, away from her. He fought wildly trying to break free, but he couldn't. Dazed he looked up into the ashen face of his brother "Let me go! Elizabeth is in there."

"It's too late Lucky, she's gone." Nikolas answered brokenly, "She's gone."

Lucky shook his head wrenching his eyes from Nicholas to focus on the inferno. He watched what was left of the roof collapse into the fire. "Elizabeth!" he screamed her name again, as he watched his life go up in flames."

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~Jakes~

Lucky's hand reached out for Elizabeth and she took a step back peering intently at the man in front of her.

"My name is not Elizabeth." She answered him looking at the man. He was taller than her, with frosted blond hair. He has absolutely no color in his face, and his eyes were set off by the ashen look on his face. She felt her nerves jump when her eyes met his blue ones; she could see desperation in them, touched with a hint of madness as well. Involuntarily she took another step back away from that madness. Jason walked up behind her and she breathed easier.

"Elizabeth, are you really here?" Lucky managed to get out his hungry eyes drunk her in. 

"Who?" She began.

"Lucky are you okay?" Jason broke in focusing on his old friend. He looked so haggard he barely recognized the boy he used to know in the man he saw before him.

Lucky didn't acknowledge him, he was afraid to take his eyes off of Elizabeth. She turned to look at Jason, and he reached out and grabbed her right wrist. He let out a frenzied laugh when he realized she was really here. He had touched her and she hadn't disappeared, like she had so many times in the past. She was real, she was flesh, and she had finally come back to him.

"Hey." She tried to pull her arm free of his grasp. But he had a viselike grip on her arm and refused to let go. "Let me go."

"Go!" He croaked, "You can't go, Elizabeth, you've finally come home, back to me. I'll never let you go."

Exasperated she tried to yank her hand out of his grasp. "Damn'it my name is not Elizabeth!"

Lucky recoiled at her words. He was staring at Elizabeth, he knew her better than anyone. He focused on her soft blue eyes, unmindful of the anger that was in them now. He saw her same petite body, and failed to notice the way she tried to get away from him. He recognized her sweet voice as the one that had haunted him for years, yet he didn't hear the temper in it now. It was true her hair was longer than he had ever seen it, but she was definitely his Elizabeth.

"What's the matter Elizabeth?" Lucky asked pulling her closer to him.

"Lucky! Elizabeth is dead. She is not Elizabeth." Jason began, "Her name is-"

"No! This is Elizabeth Webber. She is my girlfriend, my fiancé." He yelled quieting the bar with his vehemence, he focused his anger and confusion on Jason.

She twisted her arm trying to free it, but Lucky's grip tightened even further, she let out a small groan when the pain registered.

Jason's face was a cold mask when he heard her groan, "Lucky you need to let her go NOW." His voice was pure ice.

"Stay out of this Jason you don't understand. She's finally here." Lucky pulled on her arm trying to pull her into his embrace.

Jason stepped in between them and put his hand on Lucky's hand. "Let her go." Jason helped him along by grabbing his wrist, and applying pressure to it, forcing him to let her go. Finally free she stepped back and stood behind Jason, unconsciously rubbing her wrist.

Jason saw her actions out of the corner of his eye, his never left Lucky's as Lucky stepped up, to reach after her. "Lucky you need to back off. This is not Elizabeth Webber. Her name is Rory Nichols."

Lucky's confusion was evident he brought his attention back to Jason. He shook his head slightly, trying to shake off Jason's words. "Yes Lucky, her name is Rory, she's with me." His voice hardened and he caught Lucky's eyes, he gave him a cold look, "She is with me," he repeated. His tone lowered and the look he gave Lucky conveyed his meaning the he wouldn't let Lucky near her again.

"Jason, maybe I should go upstairs, while you calm him down." Rory offered quietly, she wanted to get away from the stranger. She noticed that he focused on her again as soon as she spoke. His stare was making her nervous.

Jason nodded slowly, his eyes not leaving Lucky's, he dug the key out of his pocket, "Last door on the right."

Rory took the key and moved around the men towards the bar, where Jake had stashed her bags. She felt Lucky's eyes on her the whole time. 

Lucky's confusion broke when he saw her head to the stairs. "No!" he cried and lunged towards her, to stop her.

Jason intercepted him, stopping him and shoving him roughly away, "Leave Now."

A haze enveloped Lucky, all he knew was Jason was keeping him from Elizabeth. Angered he charged Jason, ramming his shoulder into Jason's waist driving them both back until Jason's butt hit the pool table. Jason groaned when he was caught between Lucky's weight and the solidness of the pool table.

Lucky was swinging wildly, and Jason's temper sizzled, he executed a jab into Lucky's unprotected gut. Lucky's breath whooshed out in a rush. Lucky was in a frenzy, but he was no match for the lethalness Jason possessed during a fight.

Lucky's fist grazed Jason's face, and Jason pulled back and delivered a right to Lucky's face, sending the man crashing into a table and continuing to the ground. Lucky collapsed on the bar floor gasping for breath, and Jason moved to stand over him, at the same time that Nikolas Cassadine entered the bar.

"Lucky stay down." Jason ordered.

Instinct developed over the years kicked in, Jason pivoted at the last second to meet Nikolas's charge. He grunted when he felt himself being driven back into the damn pool table again.

"Lucky!" Emily cried following Nikolas into the bar, her eyes moved to where Nikolas was now fighting with a man, she couldn't really see. "Jason." She whispered recognizing her brother, when his head was forcibly turned towards her by Nikolas's fist when it connected with his jaw. She came to a stop beside Rory trying to understand the scene before her.

Rory dropped her bags when she saw Lucky rise, and head over to where Jason was still fighting with the other man. She saw that Jason was oblivious to Lucky's approach. She ran over and placed herself between Jason and Lucky.

Lucky's anger lessoned when he recognized her, his angel was standing before him again, "Elizabe…" he broke off when Rory brought up her fist and slammed it into his still tender gut.

Lucky doubled over gasping for breath, he peered up at Elizabeth just as she swung again catching him across his jaw, and knocking him from his feet. His head hit the pool table, and her face was the last thing he saw before he blacked out.

"My name is not Elizabeth."


	3. I'm making a nametag

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 2

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~Jakes~

While Rory stood there shaking out her hand, Emily ran over to help Lucky, furious she turned on the woman who had hit him "You Bit.." Emily's mouth stumbled to a stop when she focused on the woman before her. She was looking at a ghost. "Elizabeth," she murmured and then she fainted.

"Jesus, not you too!" Rory muttered looking around for Jason. He had the man who had attacked him pinned to the pool table, his right arm was twisted up and behind him at a high angle. Jason used his weight and grip to keep the man in place.

"You done yet Cassadine? I've got no problem staying like this all night."

Nikolas jerked but could not free himself from the hold, "Enough Jason." He said with a groan, when Jason increased the pressure.

Jason let him go and took a cautious step back, his eyes never leaving Nikolas.

Nikolas rose slowly, feeling every move a thousand times over. Finally he turned around to look at Jason. He almost dropped when he saw the woman, who had moved to stand beside Jason. "E- Elizabeth?" He stuttered.

He watched Elizabeth turn to him and shoot him an evil glare, "That's it I'm making a name tag!"

"I don't understand," Nikolas began his eyes looking around the bar. He saw his brother lying unconscious on the ground, he jerked at that, then he saw Emily lying on the ground next to him, and his heart stopped.

"Emily." Nikolas cried his own aches forgotten as he raced over to where she lay lifeless on the ground.

Jason reacted to his sister's name, his eyes searching for his sister. "Emily." the name was choked out of him, he went to her, pushing Nikolas out of the way, so he could look at her.

He scanned for injuries, and thankfully found none, he could see no blood, but her color was gone. He checked her pulse, and let out a breath in relief as he felt the strong beat of her heart.

Rory came over and crouched on the other side of Emily, "Jason she's fine she just fainted." His eyes jerked to her, "She took one look at me, called me Elizabeth and swooned." She answered the unspoken plea in his eyes.

Jason nodded and picked his sister up off the cold, dirty floor, he sat down on a chair and held her in his lap waiting for her to wake up. Rory crossed to the bar and got a towel and a couple of glasses of water.

She brought the water and towel over to Jason, "Here dampen her wrists and face, it should bring her out of it." Jason nodded and took the towel from her.

She turned to face the man Jason had called Cassadine, he had moved over to Lucky, his eyes darting to Emily every now and then. She crossed over to him, "Eliza…"

"Hold it, that is what started this whole thing in the first place. My name is Rory, not Elizabeth. Now if you understand that and can make this idiot here understand that, I will help you wake him up."

Nikolas nodded, knowing his voice wouldn't work. How could it work, he was staring at and listening to a woman who had been dead for two years?

Rory answered his nod by dumping the glass of water on Lucky's face. Lucky jerked and began to move. "Get him the hell out of here, and away from me, or I will hit him again."

"You…you hit him?" incomprehension entered Nikolas's voice.

"Yes, and I'll do it again if he starts calling me Elizabeth." With that Rory turned and walked back over to Jason and Emily who was beginning to move around.

"Jason I think I should go upstairs. I don't want to scare her again. And if I leave before he's fully awake, there shouldn't be anymore trouble."

Jason looked up at her and nodded. 

"Are you okay Jason?"

"Yes, I'll be up later," he reached out and caught her hand as she began to turn away. He brought it up to his mouth where he placed a kiss on her red knuckles. "We need to talk."

Rory fought the sensation that his mouth on her skin caused, and nodded at his words. She picked up her bags and crossed to the stairs, never even glancing at a semi-conscious Lucky, or Nikolas who still couldn't stop looking at her.

"Ohhh," Emily murmured and shifted trying to wake up. Dimly she registered she was being held, but the hold was not familiar to her. Emily began struggling before her eyes fully opened.

"It's okay Emily, your safe, I've got you." Jason's voice was soft, but his grip on her remained solid.

"Jason!" Emily's heart leapt when she recognized her brother's voice. She blinked her eyes open and focused on his blue eyes. The smile lit up her face, she squirmed her arms free to grab him around the neck and squeezed.

"Em, it's a little hard to breath," he said with a smile. God he had missed her.

"You're here! When did you get here? How long are you staying?" Emily began excitedly, lurching to her feet, breaking off suddenly when the memories came back to her in a rush.

Jason saw her pale and quickly stood up and pushed her in a chair. "Breathe Emily."

Her eyes left his to search the room, they widened when she found Nikolas and Lucky by the pool table, she moved on looking for the woman but she didn't see her.

"Where…" She began then broke off, "Are you okay Nikolas, Lucky?" She called across the room, relieved when Nikolas nodded.

"Jason I saw a woman, here who looked exactly like my friend Elizabeth Webber, Lucky's girlfriend," her eyes were pleading with him "Jason she died two years ago."

Jason sighed and rubbed his hand over his face, he hated to explain things, but he would to ease her mind. "There was a woman here, Emily, her name is Rory Nichols. I don't know if she looks like Elizabeth or not, but Lucky seemed to think she was Elizabeth. He wouldn't let her go, even when I told him too. What you walked in on was the result of that. Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, crouching down in front of her, she was still so pale.

Emily nodded slowly, trying to comprehend what Jason had told her, that it wasn't Elizabeth. Her eyes darted over to where Nikolas was trying to get Lucky to his feet. Jason followed her gaze and rose as well.

"You need to get him out of here and sober him up. I don't know what he thought he was doing tonight, but he needs to stay away from Rory," Jason's tone was brutal, and the icy look he gave Nikolas made him nod.

Jason moved out of the way as Nikolas staggered to the door, bearing most of Lucky's weight. He paused by Emily "Are you okay?"

Emily nodded, "I'm fine, I'll call you tomorrow. Take care of him."

Reluctant to leave, but knowing he had to before Lucky became fully awake, Nikolas nodded and began to move towards the door. He paused and looked back at Emily, "How will you get home?"

"I'll take her."

Nikolas looked at Jason feeling the familiar rush of anger when he met his icy stare, and this time he felt a tiny flicker of fear as well. Whatever this man was he wouldn't knowingly put Emily in danger, and he had no choice but to trust him, at least for tonight. Nikolas nodded and then left, dragging Lucky behind him.

Jason looked back at his sister, who was still sitting there looking shell-shocked. She was beautiful like always, but tonight she seemed very fragile. "Come on I'll take you home, the ride will do you some good." He said holding out his hand to her.

Emily reached for his hand grasping it like a lifeline. She just couldn't seem to wrap her head around what had happened tonight, and frankly she was to tired to try to figure it out.

HE pulled on his coat and stopped by Jake, he put several $100 bills in her hand, "Sorry."

Jake just shook her head, watching him walk out into the night with his sister. Yes it was never boring when Jason Morgan stayed here.

****

~Cottage~

Nikolas helped Lucky into the cottage, trying to be quiet, but it was no good he woke her anyway.

"Nikolas, is that you? Oh my god! What happened are you okay, is Lucky?" Gia cried running down the stairs and over to the couch where Nikolas had just managed to dump Lucky.

"Yeah, were fine? We just ran into Jason Morgan." And a ghost he thought to himself.

"Jason? You mean Emily's brother? When he did he get back in town? Never mind, why were you fighting with him?"

"Elizabeth." Lucky's voice sounded from behind her on the couch. He sat upright, looking around him in a panic. "Elizabeth!" He cried sharply looking at his brother, "Where is she?"

Nikolas opened his mouth to calm his brother, and lied to his face, "Lucky that woman was not Elizabeth. Elizabeth died two years ago. That woman just looks a little like her," yeah like her twin, he thought before continuing, "That was not Elizabeth."

Gia looked between the two, trying to figure out what was going on, she knew who Elizabeth was you couldn't be around Lucky and not know who she was. But this was the first time she was aware that he was still seeing images of her.

"Of course it was Elizabeth. She's come back home. I've got to find her now." Lucky lurched to his feet only to plop back down when the room began to spin.

"Lucky." Nikolas tried again, "That wasn't her. God that woman hit you. Elizabeth would never hit you. Besides she is with Jason Morgan. Lucky, and I mean she is _with_ him."

Lucky heard the words, but all he could see was her face. "You don't understand. Elizabeth is alive, she's back, and I won't give up until she is back with me. I don't care about Jason Morgan, he is nothing compared to Elizabeth and I. Nothing. She's alive and she is going to be with me.

****

~Quartermaine's~

Emily hadn't said a word, the whole trip home. When she got off the bike, there was color in her cheeks, but her eyes were still a little vacant.

"Are you sure Jason, are you sure it wasn't Elizabeth?" She asked finally, her eyes begging him to tell her the truth.

"Emily I met Rory over ten months ago and we have been together ever since. I'm sorry her being here has caused you so much pain. But yes Emily she isn't your friend." Jason said softly taking her hand in his.

She nodded, "Of course, your right, I'm just tired. I'll see you again before you leave, right Jason?" 

He nodded, "I'm going to be here for awhile. I'll call you tomorrow."

Emily watched him ride away. She tried to believe what he said, she did. She knew he wouldn't lie to her. But she couldn't help feeling that this Rory was really Elizabeth.

Shrugging to herself she went inside, and up to her room. She closed the door to her room, she couldn't help but picture that woman's face in her head. It was exactly like Elizabeth. Sighing she leaned against the door in her darkened room.

She jerked when the light by her bed was suddenly switched on, "Where the hell have you been?"

****

~Jakes~

Jason let himself in the darkened room. He saw her asleep in the middle of the bed like he knew she would be. His heart lifted when he looked at her through the dim light coming in from the hallway.

Quietly he went into the bathroom to undress, so he wouldn't wake her. His mind wandered back to Emily. There seemed to be something more wrong with her than just tonight's activities. He made a mental note to call her tomorrow.

He walked out of the bathroom, clad only in his jockeys. He pulled his gun from his jacket and slid it in the drawer by his bed. Then he slipped in bed beside Rory.

"Jason." He heard her murmur his name while she wrapped herself around him.

He smiled slightly holding her, "I'm glad you're here Rory." He whispered.

"…eee to." She slurred back.

Jason grinned, "I love you."

"I love you too, Jase."

His heart leapt when he heard those words. He felt bad sometimes, tricking the admission from her. She never remembered these talks he had with her when she was mostly asleep. He couldn't wait for her to tell him she loved him, while she was fully conscious. But until then, he had the words he stole from her nightly.

Rory moved against him, pulling herself closer, her right arm resting on his chest. Even in the faint light he could see the fresh outline of bruises on her wrist. The bruises stood out against her fair skin. He tensed feeling the anger course through him. His face becoming a cold mask remembering what Lucky had done to her. He would have to find out what was the matter with Lucky, and how Rory fit in. He wouldn't allow her to be hurt again.

Rory sighed, and her breath on his chest, lessoned his anger, he dropped a kiss on her forehead, closed his eyes, emptying his mind and willing himself to sleep.


	4. Do you want me to go?

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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****

What If…

Chapter 3

****

~Jakes~

Rory rolled over and encountered an empty space, frowning she struggled to open her eyes. When she managed that accomplishment, she looked around for Jason. She found him by the bathroom getting dressed.

Half asleep she watched him drop the towel from his waist and pull on his boxers. Wide eyed now, she watched him step into his tight-fitting blue jeans. She watched the jeans take shape when he fastened them in the front. There was that ass she loved, she thought rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Jason felt her eyes on him and smiled to himself pulling on his shirt, "Enjoying the show?" he asked.

She jumped, but refused to feel guilty, "Well its worth the price of admission but you could sell it a bit more."

He turned to look at her, snuggled in the bed, her hair in wild disarray. He saw her eyes still cloudy with sleep, and her full mouth, begging to be kissed. Playing along "And what do you have in mind?" He asked crossing to her to sit beside her on the bed.

She sat up, draping her arm over his shoulder to rest it on the front of his chest, "You could include a little hip action." She answered kissing him softly on the cheek, "You've always been good with that hip action." She kissed the other cheek. "That always works for me." She finished pressing her lips to his.

It was a sweet and playful kiss and it still sent shockwaves through her system. "Then again, I think you should only do private shows."

He smirked "Private shows, you mean one on one?"

"Yes, you've always been good in one on one situations." She kissed him again. This time there was no playfulness the desire that had been banked roared between them as their mouths touched.

He felt his body respond to her touch, and he cursed Sonny, and he reluctantly pulled away from her. He looked into her sleepy eyes and saw the need in them; the need he knew was being reflected in his own eyes. "I have to go."

Confusion crossed Rory's face, "Now?"

"Yes, I have a meeting." He pulled free of her and reached for his boots.

She collapsed face down beside him on the bed, "Bastard." he heard her murmur into the mattress.

He started to answer, his eyes focused on her wrist, he could see the livid marks on her fair skin. The outline of a man's fingers on her skin. In an instant his anger was back.

"We need to talk."

Rory lifted her head, the teasing atmosphere of the last few minutes had left, she felt the tension in the room. It was emanating from the man beside her and she knew it wasn't sexual tension. "Jason are you okay?" she asked sitting cross-legged on the bed.

She watched him get up and prowl around the room like a caged panther. This was not the Jason she was used to seeing, she kept quiet and watched him waiting for him to talk to her. 

Jason paced to control his anger. He hadn't felt this angry in a very long time, and his famous control was being very elusive this morning. He felt almost out of control, over some bruises on Rory's skin. This was not good. He sighed heavily and scrubbed his hand over his face, trying to edge the temper back.

Finally he went to her and sat on the bed facing her. "About what happened last night."

"Jason, you know that fight was not your fault, it was that drunk's fault. Oh wait, is it your sister is she okay?" She asked reaching out for his hand.

"No Emily's fine. She was just shaken, I guess you gave her a fright. It's just…" He broke off uncharacteristically unsure.

"Just what Jason?"

"Even after I explained who you were, she still seemed." He paused, "I don't know she was convinced that you were her friend Elizabeth Webber."

Rory frowned at that, she had been managing to push that part of last night out of her brain. It was so odd, three people she had never met were so convinced she was someone else, and not just any someone, a dead girl to boot. It was unsettling, and even more disturbing because she knew one of those people was Jason's sister. She knew how much Emily met to him.

"Do you want me to go?" She asked holding her breath.

Jason seemed genuinely startled at that suggestion, and she let out a breath. "No! I never even considered you leaving."

"Okay then what can I do to help her, do you want me to stay away from her for awhile?"

"No, you're in my life, and she's in my life I want you to get to know her." Jason began, "It's just…I don't know, she seemed so fragile last night. I think something else is bothering her." He stood crossing too the dresser to put on his watch and grab his wallet.

"I won't seek her out, and If I do see her I'll tread carefully." Rory offered.

Jason turned and smiled his thanks. "There is also the question of Lucky." He said frowning.

****

~Cottage~

"Nikolas are you sure your okay, your moving like an old granny goat?' Gia teased, watching Nikolas walk slowly around the room getting dressed.

Nikolas grimaced forcing his arm through his shirtsleeve, his arm felt like it had almost been ripped off. "I'm fine, I just slept wrong."

Gia bit her lip, to keep from smiling at him when he turned to face her, "Don't you dare laugh."

"I would never, Nikolas, I would never laugh at you." She smiled at him innocently, twisting her hands behind her back so she wouldn't laugh.

With a groan, he sat heavily on the bed, to pull on his shoes. "Go ahead, laugh. That man is a menace."

Instantly serious she crossed to him, "Did he attack you? You wouldn't tell me anything last night."

"No, I charged him, after I saw him flatten Lucky." He looked at her sheepishly, "I sort of forgot all the martial arts stuff I knew, when I saw my brother lying on the ground."

"So he attacked Lucky, why? I thought they were friends." Gia asked perplexed.

His mind flashed back to the woman, to Elizabeth, no Rory, he couldn't afford to think of her as Elizabeth. "This time, I think that Lucky attacked Jason," he said finally with a sigh.

"Why? Does this have anything to do with that woman you were talking about, the one Lucky thought was Elizabeth?"

"Yes, apparently she is with Jason and I don't know the details but Lucky was convinced it was Elizabeth. I'm pretty sure he threw the first punch. It's so strange Gia, that woman looked **exactly** like Elizabeth. She even acted like the Elizabeth I knew when she first moved to town, before.." he broke off getting to his feet, "Anyway I thought it was her too and I hadn't had anything to drink. I can only imagine what Lucky thought."

"Was he bad again?" She asked quietly getting up and wrapping her arms around him. She knew how much Lucky's increased drinking in the last few months had hurt him.

"Getting there. I'm afraid this look alike will push him over the edge if Jason doesn't do it first. Oh my god Emily." He said pulling out of her arms, practically racing to the phone. She couldn't help but notice that there was no stiffness in his movements then.

"What about Emily?" She asked sourly walking too the dresser to put on her perfume.

"She was there last night, and she saw everything, she passed out. Jason was supposed to take her home." He explained listening to the ringing of Emily's private line, "No answer."

"Nikolas, I'm sure she's fine, Jason would have made sure of it." Gia told him, "Hey you might not like him but he'd do anything for his sister, last summer proved that."

"Okay." He hung up the phone, "I better check on Lucky." He said leaving the room.

"Of course, check on Lucky, check on Emily, but does he check on me? Hell no!" Gia grumbled zipping up her boots, she whirled around when Nikolas rushed back into the room.

"He's gone."

****

~Jakes~

"Can we please not talk about him?" Rory said with a groan collapsing against the pillows.

Jason went back to the bed and sat down. He gently took her bruised wrist in his hands, "We have to talk about him," he said softly.

She opened her eyes and looked into his worried eyes, "I'm fine Jason, bruises fade."

He quirked his mouth and looked back down at her hand this time studying the bruised knuckles. "Jason one of the hazards of having fair skin is that I show marks easy. I may bruise easily on the outside, but I don't get hurt. Besides I've had worse bruises, I'm tough, I have to be I live with you." She said with a smile trying to lighten his mood.

He looked up at her his electric blue eyes piercing hers "Not with me you haven't. Never with me." He said quietly, dangerously.

She felt her stomach pitch, when his eyes continued to bore into hers. He was mad at himself, she realized. Mad because she had gotten hurt in front of him. Oh boy, testosterone alert, better tread gently. She turned her hand so she was clasping his, "Jason it wasn't your fault. I'm not hurt. You were in an impossible situation, Lucky was a friend of yours. I know that you told me so yourself. You didn't know that seeing me would set him off, there was no way you could have known. You did nothing wrong. You handled the situation quickly and with as little violence as possible." She said quietly never taking her eyes from his, so she knew he heard her.

"Well now I know, and it won't happen again. Another thing that won't happen again is you getting in between me and someone else in the middle of a fight." Rory flushed at that and tried to pull her hand away, Jason kept it easily. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Oh I don't know maybe I thought I would help save your ass from being sucker punched," Rory said nastily.

Jason snorted, "Did it look like I needed your help?"

"Well we won't know will we, because I took care of Lucky. It was ridiculously easy, one punch and down for the count. He must have a glass jaw."

"Oh really?" He studied her bruised knuckles, "And the fact his head cracked the pool table didn't mean anything."

"I refuse to talk about him any longer." She said with finality. Damn'it did he have to notice everything?

"Rory, I want you to stay away from Lucky Spencer. Something's not right with him, I don't want you anywhere near him." Jason pressed.

"Jason I've been taking care of myself for a very long time. You're my lover not my babysitter." She retorted. She saw the hard look on his face, and then looked past it to the worry in his eyes, and she caved "I will, however, not seek him out, and stay only in very public places with him if our paths do cross," she finished sighing dramatically, "Anything else, oh lord and master?"

"Just this." Jason said slipping his arms around her, pulling her to him and kissed her. The desire slammed in to him when her body went lax in his arms, her mouth opened beneath his. His tongue entered her mouth and found hers. Rory moaned, when he pressed her back to the bed, lying on top of her. Her hands raced up his back, to his head pulling him closer. He nibbled kisses on the side of her mouth, teasing her until she pulled his mouth back to hers so she could feast on him.

Dimly she became aware of a ringing, at the same time Jason tensed and broke the kiss. He groaned, and pulled himself off of her. He crossed to the desk and answered the phone, "What?"

Rory lay on the bed watching him, trying to make her brain start functioning again. Every time he kissed her like that, she couldn't think clearly for minutes.

"Yeah, I'll be right there." She registered his words and groaned burying her head under the pillows.

Jason took a deep breath and hung up the phone, trying to calm his hormones, before turning back to look at her. "Sorry." Rory ignored him, "Rory, I have to go, I'm late already." She still didn't answer him, he pulled on his jacket and paused in the open door way, "Rory," he said with a sigh.

"Go Jason, I'll be fine in fact, I think, I'll just stay in bed for awhile," she began pulling herself up and leaning back against the headboard. His shirt, the one she always slept in slipped off one shoulder, exposing her creamy white skin, her hair was tousled now by his hands, her lips were still bruised because of his kisses. She shot him a look that singed him from across the room. "Then I think I'll take a nice long, hot shower, before I go exploring," she finished shifting on the bed, moving the covers as she did so, to expose her bare leg. "I'll talk to you later," she finished with a sly smile.

His mind had braked to a halt back at the shower remark, his eyes locked on her bare leg, "Witch." He said with a glare turning away from her and slamming out the door.

She held the pose for a moment longer, before collapsing to the bed in frustration. Groaning she slid out of bed, "Oh I'll take a long shower all right." She muttered heading to the bathroom, "A long **cold** shower."

Jason shoved the back door of Jakes open so hard it whipped back and caught his arm before he cleared it. "Damn." He took a breath and started counting in his head. It never worked, but he always tried it anyway, trying to calm down.

Feeling a little more in control he crossed to the bike grimacing slightly when he got on the bike, Damn jeans were to tight at the moment. He shook his head and cursed Rory again. He'd handle her tonight he thought, pulling on the helmet and roaring out of Jakes.

The man waited until the bike turned the corner before he got out of his car. He stared at the second floor of Jakes and then pulled out his cell phone, dialing a number from memory.

"Morgan just left, she's alone now, what do you want me to do?" He asked when his call was answered.

He nodded slowly, "I'll take care of it." He closed his phone and studied Jakes.

An hour later Rory walked down the stairs, her mind was on one thing food. Preferably artery hardening, greasy, fried food. She chuckled wondering how Jason was enjoying his morning. She moved through the deserted bar to the door.

She stopped abruptly when she heard a noise coming from behind the bar. Frowning, she glanced over to the bar, "Hello, anyone there?"

No one answered her, Rory shrugged, but had only taken a step before she heard the noise again.

Her eyes flicked from the bar, to the door, and then back to the bar. Okay how brave are you Nichols, she wondered taking a step towards the bar.

She peered intently at the bar but it was in the darkest corner of the entire room. She moved quietly, slowing only to pick up an empty beer bottle from a deserted table. She held it by the neck and continued to the bar, and the noises coming from it.

Rory raised the bottle over her head, took a breath, and turned into the empty space between the bar and the bottles. Her eyes widened and she screamed, the bottle she held hit the ground.


	5. Here we go again

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 4

****

~Warehouse~

Sonny was on the phone when Jason walked into the office. "Just do it and get back to me Benny." He interrupted hanging up the phone. He held out his hand to Jason and they shook, smiling at each other.

"You look like hell Jason."

Jason shifted on his feet, "Yeah well it's been an interesting 24 hours," he began, "So how's Michael and Carly?"

"Their fine, Carly's busy with Deception and Michael, well he's growing like a weed."

"Good, I'll go by later and see them," Jason answered dropping in a chair, "You want to fill me in on why you needed me here now?"

Sonny sat back behind the desk and studied his friend, he saw an impatience in him that normally wasn't there. Interesting he thought before he began, "Well you know that Sorel was convicted thanks to your sister's boyfriend," Sonny grinned when he saw Jason's grimace, "Anyway Zander got Sorel, and things have been quiet here, I've got everything solidified."

Jason nodded, waiting for Sonny to continue, Sonny's voice and the discussion was having a calming effect on him, he felt the tension begin to ease, he was feeling in control again.

"Puerto Rico is still a problem. I thought when we took out Carlos in December, I also eliminated all the rats in the organization down there." Sonny said getting up to pace to the window and back, "But lately, I've been hearing things."

Jason nodded, "Yeah, I've heard some rumblings myself."

Sonny smiled, he knew there wasn't much that got past Jason, especially where business was concerned. That was exactly why he needed his friend here right now. A bonus to that was the fact he had missed him.

"Do you want me to go to Puerto Rico again and check it out?" Jason's question interrupted Sonny's thoughts.

"No Jason that is the last thing that I want you to do. I need you here in Port Charles, and I want you to get yourself noticed in a big way."

Jason looked surprised and opened his mouth to question, when the door to the office was suddenly thrown open and a whirlwind entered.

"Jason." Carly screamed when she caught sight of her best friend and ran inside the room to him.

Jason stood and caught her in his arms; it was good to see her again. He had really missed her and Sonny. Gradually he became aware that she was talking to him, no actually she was yelling at Sonny. Some things never changed he thought with a grin shaking his head.

"How come you didn't tell me he was coming home?" Carly demanded of her husband. "And don't give me that, it was business crap, Jason is my best friend."

"Carly, Jason just got in to town last night, he wasn't hiding from you, he just hadn't had time to find you yet." Sonny answered with a sigh, "I didn't even know he was here until he walked through the door."

She looked from her husband to Jason for confirmation. Jason looked at her and smiled, but he didn't say a word. She decided to believe Sonny, anyway she would find out what was going on later, so she smiled back at Jason.

"This is so great, I've missed you so much, and so has Michael. You'll be staying around this time right? You can stay in your old penthouse, it's available again, since that twit Alexis got remarried and took her skanky ass out of the building." Carly's wheels were already turning. She was thinking up a plan to keep Jason in town permanently. She missed her best friend, and she knew how much Sonny missed him. She figured getting him to stay in his penthouse would be a good start.

"No, Jakes will be fine for u..me," Jason caught himself before he said us. Carly didn't know about Rory and he knew she would most likely go ballistic when she found out. Even though she was totally in love with Sonny, Jason knew she was very possessive of him.

Thankfully Carly didn't catch the slip. "Jakes, well at least you can play pool whenever you want to." She broke off when she heard her cell phone ring.

"Hello." She said pulling it out of her bag, "Elton, take a breath and calm down, now what is the problem. Gia what? No, no I'll handle it, I'm on my way in now." Carly closed the phone with a snap, glaring at it. "Give someone a break and they try to walk all over you."

Carly went to Sonny and kissed him, "Later baby." Then she went to Jason and gave him a hug, "I'll find you at Jakes." And with that she stormed out of the door as quickly as she had come.

Jason looked after her shaking his head, "She never changes."

"No, but I'm used to her. You were right about her all along," Sonny answered looking past him to the door his wife had just stormed through. Turning to Jason he shot him a smile "So you didn't come back alone after all."

****

~Jakes~

Rory dropped the bottle, moving her hands to her face to protect herself when a black object, launched itself out of the dark at her. She stumbled back, cursing, glaring at the cat in front of her.

"You know, you have nine lives, I only have the one, so don't do that again furface." She ordered the cat placing a hand over her still racing heart trying to catch her breath.

"You okay?" A voice asked from behind her.

"Jesus." Rory cried whirling around to face a very amused Jake, "Next time just shoot me, believe me I'll thank you for it."

Jake smiled and walked past Rory to the cat, "Sorry, it looks like Zeus and I both gave you a fright."

"Zeus huh?" Rory asked reaching out her hand to pet him, she snatched it back quickly when he snarled and scratched at her. "Not too friendly is he?"

"Oh, he's an alley cat, they always fight first and introduce themselves later." Jake said walking behind the bar to the cash register. "Here Jason said to give you a key."

"Thanks, I noticed he took the other one. Do you know where Kelly's is? I'm starving and Jason's mentioned the food there is good."

"Yeah Kelly's is about six blocks East, it's right off the docks on Main. There's a bus stop at the end of the street, the number 9 will take you there and let you off just half block from Kelly's."

"Thanks but I have my car." She broke off seeing Jake's look, "What don't people drive here?"

"Yes its just most girls in this town seem to take the bus or are driven everywhere."

"Well I'm not like most girls." Rory replied.

No I don't think you are, Jake thought to herself as she went back to work.

"I'm sorry about last night."

"Why you didn't start it. Jason gave me money for the damages, it wasn't the first fight in this place and it won't be the last." Jake said with a shrug.

"That man Lucky, is he always like that?" Rory asked.

"No, he normally just drinks himself into a stupor, but he's real quiet about it. Not a whiff of trouble, hell half the time I don't think he even knows anyone else is around. His brother picks him up a lot, or I'll call him a cab. Last night was a definite first."

Damn, Rory thought to herself, she was trying to convince herself that this was his normal behavior, "So he doesn't see dead people every time he drinks," smooth one she thought pressing for more information.

"No I knew he lost someone, but he has never accosted anyone, claiming they were her. You must have really reminded him of her, to set him off like that. Not to many people go after Jason like that." Jake answered, wiping off the bar counter, "I really need to get moving."

"Yeah thanks Jake." Rory replied walking to the door and letting herself outside. Something about me set him off, the same something that also set off Emily and that other guy. Something like my face I guess. Rory shook her head and walked to the car. To many thoughts on an empty stomach, she thought wryly. She got behind the wheel of the mustang and took off with a roar. She was so busy thinking about food, she failed to notice the car that pulled out behind hers.

****

~Warehouse~

"I did come back alone," Jason countered defensively. Sonny raised his eyebrows and waited. "Rory decided to surprise me."

Sonny smiled broadly, now Jason's look and behavior was making sense. "That's good, I'd like to get to know her better." Sonny said keeping his tone bland, but in truth he was dying to get to know the woman who had Jason turned inside out. The mere fact that she was here with him, was a major change in his friend's life.

"You will, she's not exactly the shy type." Jason said pacing to the window to stare blindly at the docks, his mind replaying the night before when she had decked Lucky. "When you met her in Puerto Rico did she remind you of anybody?"

"Well I was only around her for about 15 hair raising minutes Jason, it's hard to get an impression in that short amount of time, especially considering the situation we were in at the time." Sonny answered noticing the tension radiating from Jason. Something was definitely up.

"Did you know Elizabeth Webber?"

If Jason's question surprised Sonny, he didn't show it, "Yes I knew her. Why?"

Jason turned to face Sonny, "Do you think Rory looks like Elizabeth?"

Now Sonny let the surprise show, "Jason I don't know. Like I said the only time I saw Rory it was for about 15 minutes and from the back seat of a car, that she was driving around at about 100 mph trying to shake Carlos's men. Besides she was wearing a wig and sunglasses as well, she had nice legs though," Sonny finished with a laugh that died abruptly when he looked at Jason's face. "Why?"

Jason rested one hand on his hip, rubbing his eyes with the other one and sighed heavily, "Lucky Spencer was at Jakes last night. He was convinced that Rory was Elizabeth. He was so adamant about it, he grabbed Rory and wouldn't let her go."

"Is she alright?" Sonny asked tensing up.

"Yes, I got him away from her and the next thing I know, he's charging me starting a fight. It was so strange. This was not the Lucky I used to know."

"Well Lucky's changed since….well since Elizabeth's death. In a lot of ways I think he's worse now that ever. Last summer when you were here during that mess with Emily, that was really the last time that Lucky seemed to be like Lucky. Recently I hear that he's been liking the bottle a little too much. I wouldn't let him worry you to much, he was probably just drunk."

"It wasn't just him."

"What?" Sonny asked looking up from his desk.

"Nikolas Cassadine and Emily came in while we were fighting, and they both thought Rory was Elizabeth. She spooked Emily so much that she fainted." Jason finished with a sigh, he didn't like remembering Emily lying lifeless on the floor.

"Is she okay?" Sonny asked quickly relieved when Jason nodded. Sonny was quiet taking in Jason's words. "Did you ever meet Elizabeth Webber?" he asked finally.

"No." Jason answered.

****

~Kelly's~

"Nikolas, I need to get going soon, I've already missed one appointment. Carly's going to kill me." Gia said walking to the door.

"I just want to see if he's here in his room, then I'll take you to Deception," Nikolas replied opening the door.

He crossed over to Tammy "Have you seen Lucky?"

"No he hasn't come through today." Tammy answered taking some dirty plates into the kitchen.

Nikolas turned to look at Gia, "I hope to hell he didn't go looking for her."

****

~Jakes~

Jake turned when she heard the door open she frowned, recognizing Lucky. "Bar's closed."

"I don't want a drink Jake, I want to talk to her." Lucky said moving past her heading for the stairs.

"She's already left."

He turned with a panicked look on his face. She couldn't be gone, "Where." He demanded.

"I don't think you need to know." Jake replied moving behind the bar.

"Please, I've got to see her."

"Lucky I saw what happened last night, and I saw the bruises you put on her, this morning. The last thing she wants or needs is to see you again. Besides Jason doesn't want you anywhere near her." Jake finished with a glare.

Bruises, he hadn't hurt her had he? A lot of the previous night was a blur, the only clear images were of her. This time when he took his mind through the previous night, he looked past her face and into her actions. He remembered her look of pain and exclamation when he grabbed her. He had hurt Elizabeth, Lucky felt the shame enter his blood. He couldn't believe he had hurt her.

"P-please Jake." His voice broke and he took a deep breath before continuing, "I want to apologize to her. I'm not usually like that. You know me. I just want to tell her I'm sorry."

Jake sized him up. He did seem awfully contrite, sighing she made her decision "She was saying she was hungry and asked me for directions to Kellys." She had barely finished speaking when Lucky shot out of the bar, yelling a distracted thanks over his shoulder.

"Well Zeus, I hope I didn't just step in it." Jake said to the cat, who hissed at her.

****

~Kellys~

"Nikolas, I'm sure he's fine," Gia said anxious to be gone, she brushed a piece of lint off of her new skirt, "Come on I need to get to work."

Nikolas stared at her and then turned to look as the door opened and Emily walked in. Nikolas quickly went over to her, leaving Gia fuming at the counter. "Are you okay?" He asked giving Emily a quick hug, before pulling back to study her.

"Yes I'm fine." She answered quickly, averting her eyes from his probing gaze. "Hey Gia,"

Gia ignored her taking a seat at the counter.

"How are you and Lucky doing?" Emily asked sitting down at a table.

"I'm fine, I can't find Lucky."

Her eyes widened, "You don't think, he went looking for her do you? Jason made it clear that he doesn't want Lucky anywhere near her."

"I know, I know, I brought him back to the cottage last night and calmed him down before he passed out. When I woke up this morning he was gone. I've been looking everywhere for him. I'm afraid he did go after her." He said, locking his worried eyes on her soft brown ones.

"We better find him, before he finds her or worse he finds Jason," Emily said taking his hand in hers. Gia noticed this from her seat at the counter and glared at the pair. Time to break this up she thought, getting to her feet.

Tammy walked out from the kitchen carrying a tray of food, when she heard the bell over the door ring. She glanced at the door to see who the new arrival was. The tray clattered to the floor and she let out a scream pointing to the door, "Oh my god Elizabeth."

Rory paused just inside the door, when everyone's eyes focused on her. "And here we go again," she muttered letting the door slam behind her.


	6. Explanations

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 5

****

~Warehouse~

"You didn't? But Lucky, lived over the bike shop for a while, and those two were inseparable. How could you not have met her?" Sonny asked surprised sitting on the edge of the desk, watching as his normally still friend pace the room.

"I know. I've been thinking about this all night. When Elizabeth visited Lucky, she always used the outside stairs. She never went through the shop. I saw her from behind dozens of times, but I never spoke to her."

"What about Kellys? She worked there for years."

"Sonny you know how I am. If it's not business, or it's not someone important to me I block him or her out. She was just a body bringing me food. Sure I suppose I talked to her, when she took my order but she didn't register or stay with me because she wasn't important or…" Jason broke off suddenly.

"Or she wasn't a potential threat to you," Sonny finished for him.

Jason nodded and after a long time he went on "Since the accident, I kind of have a swiss cheese memory. People don't make much of an impression on me unless they fall into one of two categories, business or someone I care about." He dropped wearily in the chair looking at the floor. Christ he hated talking about the accident, even with Sonny, he hated bringing up the fact that he was considered brain damaged.

Sonny felt for Jason, he knew his friend was hurting and was embarrassed. "Your memory is fine Jason. You probably have a better memory than most people. What you have is a selective memory, you've trained it to function in a good way. A way that I wish mine would work sometimes."

Jason looked up sharply, staring hard at the man he considered his father in many respects and sighed he wasn't lying. He nodded his thanks, and then walked to the window again, looking out over the docks.

"Come on let's get some air, and I'll fill you in on my plan," Sonny said grabbing his coat and opening the door.

Jason pulled himself out of his thoughts and followed him.

****

~Kellys~

Nikolas sat there stunned, he had tried to convince himself, that it had been a trick of the dim lighting at Jakes that made Rory look like Elizabeth. But when he focused on her now, with the sunlight streaming in around her through the door, he knew that it wasn't true. He was looking at Elizabeth. He glanced at Emily when her hand tightened on his, he saw her pale again as she stared too.

Rory looked in their direction, and saw Emily and Cassadine, she quickly scanned the room for any sign of Lucky, and was relieved when she found none. She smiled slightly at them and began to move towards the counter. When she passed the blonde, who had dropped her tray, she heard her speak the name Elizabeth again.

Pausing she sighed heavily and focused up at the taller woman. Damn'it why couldn't she be tall like that, she wondered for the millionth time in her life. "I'm sorry my name is not Elizabeth, it's Rory." She said with a small smile, feeling like a shrimp. She moved on then to the counter taking a seat beside a beautiful girl with braids.

'Nikolas, God, it's like looking at a ghost," Emily breathed in slowly, her eyes boring holes into Elizabeth's, no Rory's back.

"I know Em, I know." He said praying his brother was nowhere near Kellys at the moment.

"Hi! I'm Gia."

Rory turned and looked at the woman next to her, she noticed only curiosity in her eyes instead of the shock she was getting depressingly used to seeing.

"Rory."

Tammy had managed to pick up the dishes and took them to the counter, she took a deep breath before stepping behind it, to face the woman. "M-may I get you something?"

Rory focused on her, noting her ashen expression and determination, "Ham and cheese omelet, don't kill any potatoes, just give me a side of bacon, extra crispy, and a tomato juice." She rattled off her order.

Tammy sucked in a breath that was Elizabeth's favorite breakfast when she allowed herself to indulge in more than a muffin. Shakily she nodded and went into the kitchen

"I've got to talk to her." Emily said quietly getting to her feet slowly. Nikolas rose too, keeping her hand in his as they crossed to her.

Rory felt their approach but kept her eyes fixed on the order thing hanging in the opening. What were those things called she wondered, order spinners? Around the worlds?

"Rory," Emily began.

"Hello Emily, Cassadine," Rory answered stubbornly staring ahead. Were they twirly whirly things? The help I'm getting dizzy watching things? What were they called?

"Will you look at me please?" Emily asked.

"Will you not faint if I do?" Rory answered back, her mind was running out of ideas anyway.

"Yes, I don't make a habit of that." Emily shot back testily.

"Good. You scared your brother to death," Rory retorted spinning around to face her. That's it Order Spinners she thought.

Emily inhaled sharply, "Don't worry I don't plan on it happening again. I have no idea what was on that floor but it was in my hair when I woke up."

Rory smiled, "You don't want to know what's on a bar floor Em."

Both Emily and Nikolas reacted to her smile and the slang use of Emily's name.

"What?" Rory asked noting their reactions, "Not the Elizabeth thing again. That little twit is going to dog me during my whole stay here isn't she?" Rory grumbled.

Emily let out a laugh as she thought of Elizabeth calling herself a twit crossed her mind. Rory shot her a look and then laughed as well.

She cocked her head at Nikolas, "Your awfully quiet today Cassadine, your stuttering problem get to be too much for you."

Gia let out a laugh at that.

Nikolas glared at the both of them "My name is Nikolas and I do not stutter," he answered her regally.

"Better watch out he slipping into his Prince mode. If your not careful he'll order you to the dungeons or something," Gia chimed in from beside her.

"Prince?" Rory asked looking at Gia.

"It's a long story, that I'm sure his highness here will dictate to you some time. But right now the Prince needs to turn into a chauffer and take me to work like he promised." Gia answered getting to her feet and stepping in between Emily and Nikolas, forcing a glaring Emily to step back out of her way.

Gia ignored the glare and pulled on Nikolas's arm to get him to move. "Nice to meet you Rory," she said with a smile, "Emily," she said in a much frostier tone.

"But.." Nikolas began when Gia jerked his body towards the door.

"But nothing Princey, you promised."

Giving up he took Gia's arm and headed towards the door. "I'll talk to you later Emily and uh...um…you to Rory," he finished as Gia tugged him out the door.

"She always like that?" Rory asked studying the door.

"What, rude, argumentative, controlling, bitchy, sarcastic, selfish?" Emily asked sitting in the seat Gia had just vacated, "Yes."

"Don't hold back now Emily, tell me how you really feel," Rory quipped with a smile.

"Sorry she just gets to me. I have no idea what he sees in her." Emily broke off catching Rory's look, "Okay I know what he sees in her. But she is not the only beautiful woman in town."

Rory smiled at Emily, "You two don't get along I take it?"

"It's kind of hard to like someone, when the only reason you know them is because they blackmailed you," Emily said with a sigh, facing the kitchen. It was much easier to talk to Rory if she didn't have to look at her.

"Oh she was the one."

That caught Emily's attention, and she turned to look questioningly at Rory, bracing herself for the uneasiness she was sure to feel as she looked at her.

"Jason mentioned it to me. He was really worried about you, when he found out you had been kidnapped. Then when he found out about the blackmail, and everything else, let's just say Gia should be glad he didn't meet her then."

"You know about all of that?"

"Yes Emily, I know because Jason and I were in Florida when Sonny got a hold of him, to tell him that you had been kidnapped by that guy Zander. He left immediately to find you, which he did, and well you know the rest."

"Oh," Emily said quietly, remembering that crazy time last summer.

Rory waited a minute watching Emily out of the corner of her eye, she was still pale, "Emily are you okay seeing me? I mean you don't have to stay if I'm making you nervous."

Emily turned to look at her again, it was a little easier this time. "No I'm okay it's just strange. You look so much like her, and I miss her so much, I really want to talk to her, especially now."

"Well I'm not her Emily, but I would like to be your friend, if you let me. I could use a friend in this town. But even if we don't manage that, I would like to be able to be around you without you losing all of your color every time you see me," Rory broke off when Tammy set her plates before her, "Thanks…" she let the question hang in the air.

"Tammy, I'm Tammy," Tammy answered with a weak smile, this was so weird.

Rory nodded and dug into her food. Emily watched her eat with enthusiasm just like Elizabeth would when she let herself. Sighing she watched Rory tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, in an old habit of Elizabeth used to have as well.

Wrenching herself from her thoughts, she made herself speak, "I'd like to be your friend Rory. I like your attitude, you remind me a lot of…" she broke off with a frown.

"Who, Elizabeth?" Rory asked biting into a slice of bacon.

"No actually I was going to say Lizzie."

Rory looked at her questioningly.

"Never mind, I do need to go now, but I would like to talk to you again and get to know you. Also I would love to hear about how you met my brother."

Rory brightened at that and smiled slyly, "Jason doesn't like me to tell that story, so of course I always do."

Emily laughed and got to her feet, "I'll talk to you soon," she said and then she was gone.

Well that went pretty good, Rory thought continuing to eat, but who is Lizzie? Don't tell me there was yet another person she was going to be confused with in this town?

Rory heard the door open behind her as she took a big bite of her omelet, "Elizabeth." She recognized the voice and she groaned, part of the omelet went down her throat wrong. Sputtering she started coughing her eyes watering. When she got control of herself, she turned to glare at Lucky who had moved beside her. "Would you quit doing that!"

****

~The Docks~

Sonny and Jason strolled along the docks in the direction of Kellys, Johnny followed remaining a few steps behind, his eyes continuously scanning the area.

"So why do you want everyone to know I'm in Port Charles," Jason asked finally, moving the problem with Rory to the back of his mind.

"Because your like a ghost. No one ever knows where you are, you just sort of come and go with no word. Heck most of the time even I don't know where you are."

Jason nodded, not seeing where this was heading, "You have the special cell number, you can always reach me on that."

"I know I can reach you, I want the traitors to think they can reach you as well." Sonny said stopping to look out at the water towards Spoon Island.

"You think someone might approach me?"

Sonny snorted at that "No, Jason everyone knows your too loyal to do that. Hell you gave the business back to me, and took a step down without giving it a second thought. No, no one will try to get you to turn on me." He answered with a sigh.

"Then why do you…" Jason broke off when he saw his sister heading over to them.

"Jason." Emily's cheerful voice carried over to the two men. She stepped up quickly to give him a jug. "Hi Sonny."

"Emily how are you?"

"Fine."

"And Zander?" Sonny asked.

"He's fine," Emily said briefly changing the subject. "I'm sorry am I interrupting something, I can come back."

"No that's fine Em," Jason answered quickly, holding her arm, "Are you okay?" he asked noting her paleness.

"Yes, I just ran into Rory at Kelly's that's all." Emily continued quickly "We didn't fight or anything Jason, it's just weird seeing her."

"Listen, I'll let you two talk, I'm going to go and talk to Rory." Sonny said, "Jason I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks Sonny," Emily said smiling at him.

The two men nodded at each other and then Sonny and Johnny walked away.

Jason took Emily's arm and led her to the bench, "So how have you been?" he asked waiting for her to sit.

"Good." She answered automatically.

Jason said nothing and just looked at her. Sighing Emily looked away from him, "Okay things are a little weird, but with the family when aren't they?" She offered hoping he would let the subject drop.

"So things are still tense between you and them over the whole Zander thing? I thought they had backed off, and that was why you moved back home."

She got to her feet and moved closer to the water, "They did," she said hugging herself against the cold breeze coming off the water. "Their still not happy about it. Grandfather calls him a deviant every chance he gets, but," She broke off with a sigh staring at Windamere.

Jason just sat and watched her from the bench, waiting for her to continue.

"They don't have much of a choice, I made it clear to them, that if they want me in their life they would have to back off Zander. Once Alexis got the charges dropped, and Sorel was convicted they eased up. Oh Zander won't be invited for dinner anytime soon, but that's a good thing in out family," Emily finished brightly turning to look at him with a smile that Jason knew was fake.

She saw his look, and quickly turned around to stare at the water, desperate to fill the silence before he could question, she jumped into the void. "Did I ever thank you for the money you sent me when I moved out? I don't know how you knew, but it really helped. You always seem to know when I need help. You show up out of the blue and I know things will be alright."

"Em what is it?" Jason asked softly getting up and crossing to her. He took her arm to turn her to him, and saw the tears in her eyes.

Without a word, Em wrapped her arms around him and hugged him as the tears began to fall. "Let it out Em," he murmured running his hand over her hair. What was going on with her?

****

~Kellys~

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Lucky answered sitting down next to her.

Rory looked over, he seemed sober, and she noted with perverse satisfaction that he had a swollen lip, and a big bruise on his forehead. She could read the headache he had in his eyes, which were calm at the moment.

"Okay." She said turning back to her food, and reaching for her glass, her sleeve slid up exposing the bruises on her wrist.

"I'm sorry I hurt you. I would never intentionally hurt you. I hope you know that," he said earnestly.

"Alright." She had decided that she was going to be good and not provoke him. The best way to do that she thought was to not look at him, and keep to one-word answers. It would be hard, but she was going to try. She figured that if she kept her mouth full there were less chances of her shooting it off at the wrong time. Deciding this she took another bite.

Lucky was silent as he focused on her. Rory kept eating and refused to look at him. The minutes dragged on, and the intense way he was staring at her was beginning to get to her. Count she ordered herself, when she noticed she was running out of food.

"What's my name?" She demanded suddenly. Well hell, so much for good intentions.

Lucky was startled out of his study of her, "Elizabeth." He answered automatically.

She set her cup down with a bang, and got up from the stool. Lucky stood as well facing her. "I told you last night while you were drunk, and now I'm telling you while your sober. MY NAME IS NOT ELIZABETH." She said loudly glaring at him, "Tammy may I have my bill?" she turned to her when the woman walked out of the kitchen.

"Sure thing sweetie." She answered her eyes darting from Lucky to Rory, "You okay Lucky?"

Lucky ignored her, "Of course your Elizabeth. I know you better then anyone, I could pick you out of a crowd with my eyes closed."

Rory cursed and slapped a $10 on the counter, "Keep it" she said and stalked out the door.

Lucky followed her out into the small courtyard in front of Kellys he took hold of her arm, stalling her in her tracks.

"You trying to give me matching bruises?" She asked looking down at his hand holding her arm, and then back up at him.

Immediately he let her go, but shifted in her path, to block her escape. "I'm sorry, it's just I don't want you to leave again."

She glanced around and realized she had gotten herself into the very situation she had promised Jason she would avoid. She was alone with Lucky.

"Please, I won't touch you, just don't go."

Sighing she looked up at him, "Look I'm not trying to hurt you. Jason has explained to me that you lost someone important to you. I'm sorry that I remind you of her, but you need to stop this, I am not Elizabeth, my name is Rory."

Sonny entered the courtyard from the dockside just in time to hear her last words. "Hello Lucky, Rory," he called out making his presence known.

Lucky glanced over at him, and then Rory turned around to look at him and Sonny felt like he had been punched. He had thought when Jason mentioned Lucky's and the others reaction to her, that it was in reality just a strong resemblance they were reacting to. But this was so much more than just a resemblance, she was a mirror image of Elizabeth, a little older but still a perfect match.

Relieved, Rory smiled crossing to him finally a familiar face that didn't think she was someone else, "Hi Sonny." Her smile faded when she saw the way he was looking at her, his eyes registering the same shock and confusion that everyone else had. "Not you too," she said sadly, at the same time that Lucky seemed to regain his focus.

"You knew!" Lucky yelled, "You knew she was alive and you didn't tell me?"

Rory turned to look at Lucky and Sonny stepped past her to stand between her and Lucky. "You need to calm down Lucky."

"Calm down, I thought you were my friend. Why? Why didn't you tell me Elizabeth was alive?" Lucky yelled advancing on Sonny. Johnny moved to intercept him but Sonny waved him off.

"Johnny, take Rory to Jason," he ordered.

"No." Lucky yelled and came closer, Sonny held up his hand to stop him.

"Boss I don't think I..." Johnny began.

"Do it Johnny."

Johnny turned to Rory and gestured in the direction of the docks, nodding slowly she turned and left, Johnny moved up beside her to lead the way.

Lucky again moved to get around Sonny, but Sonny stepped in his path. "That is not Elizabeth, Lucky. You need to stop following her."

Lucky looked at the man he had known for years, the man who had went camping with him and his dad, the man who was there when he got his ear pierced, the man who helped him when he got in over his head gambling, the man who had bought an earth worm farm from him, the man who had made sure he got home safely many times in these past two years, and tried to reconcile it with the knowledge that this man was also the man who was in someway partially responsible for keeping Elizabeth from him.

"Why Sonny? Why did you do it?" Lucky asked with tears in his eyes, "I thought we were friends. Why would you want to destroy me?"

"Lucky I am your friend. I never tried to hurt…"

"Is this because of my dad? Because he ended his partnership with you?" Lucky interrupted.

"Of course not. Lucky I have known you for almost half your life. You know that I would never hurt you like that. That woman is not Elizabeth, her name is Rory Nichols, her and Jason have been…"

"Jason," Lucky latched on to the name, "Is that it? Jason saw her and decided he wanted her and so you what? Helped him take her from me? Is that what happened Sonny?"

"No Lucky, damn'it that is not Elizabeth," Sonny yelled slamming his hand on a table.

"Well it doesn't matter, it won't work, whatever your plan is, and it won't work. I know she's alive now and I won't rest until she is back with me. If you or Jason tries to get in my way." Lucky stopped then and looked Sonny dead in the eye, "Well I am a Spencer, you better remember that," and with that he turned and walked away.


	7. Hints, Secrets, and Rule #118

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 6

****

~Elm Street~

"So do you do this a lot, Mr. Johnny?" Rory asked when they crossed over to Elm Street heading to the pier.

"Do what, Miss…?" Johnny asked the question of her name hanging in the air.

"Rory." She answered coming to a stop and looking at him, "Talk to ghosts. I mean if you do you must have some great stories to tell."

"What?" Johnny asked the confusion evident on his face.

"Well think about it, if you did talk to ghosts just think what you could learn. Think of all the blackmail information you could gather." She smiled up at him, her blue eyes dancing in mischief.

"I don't know what your talking about Miss." He said again trying to make sense of what she was saying.

"Rory." She repeated, "I would think it could be a good thing, talking to ghosts. Especially in your line of work, think what you could learn. Of course I wouldn't want them to appear to me as corpses or how they looked in death would you?" she paused looking at Johnny and bit her lip to keep from smiling, the poor man was so lost.

"Corpses." Johnny stuttered, "Miss…"

"Rory." She broke in watching a woman push a baby carriage cross the street. "No I wouldn't want to see their corpses. When I see them I would want them to appear as they looked during the happiest time in their life. Don't you think that's how ghosts should appear Mr. Johnny?"

"Rory, what are you talking about?" He asked exasperated.

She smiled triumphantly, "Just making conversation, Mr. Johnny. You see Lucky and everyone else in this town seems to think I'm a ghost, I was just getting your take on the situation."

"Look Miss…"

"Too late for that Mr. Johnny you already broke Rule #118 in the bodyguards handbook, you can't go back now." Rory interrupted him with a grin.

"Rule…What?" Johnny asked, he had a headache now, from trying to figure out what she was saying.

"Rule #118 states: Once the bodyguard, that would be you Mr. Johnny, uses the familiar name of the person he is supposed to watch, he cannot revert into formality, without the express permission of that same said person." She dictated averting her eyes so she wouldn't laugh.

He let out an involuntary laugh, then immediately caught himself and cut it off, "You are not serious, Miss" he broke off when she looked up at him, no actually it was more like when she glared at him. She raised her eyebrow and waited, "Rory," he said with a sigh.

"Of course I am Mr. Johnny." She answered with a smile that went well she thought.

"Wait why are you calling me Mr. Johnny, my name is Johnny."

"Well Mr. Johnny I haven't broken Rule #33 of the person being guarded handbook yet, that's why." She replied slipping her arm through his, trying to get him to move along. The poor man looked like he had been run over.

He shook his head slightly trying to clear his mind. He was reliving the last few minutes trying to figure out how he had lost control of the situation. He looked down at her smiling face and mischievous eyes and suddenly knew. It was all her fault. Reluctantly he let out a laugh and shook his head, "You're good."

She beamed at that, "Thank you, and now tell me what do you think of Rule #73 of the handbook. Do you guys really do that? Because if you do, I SO want to be there when you practice."

He started heading to the docks, not really listening to her, he brightened at the thought of Jason with the woman beside him. He almost laughed when he pictured Mr. In Control Jason Morgan with this spitfire beside him. Jason was in over his head, and it would be fun to watch. Her words penetrated then, and his eyes widened when he heard her describe Rule #73, he needed to get this book.

****

~Docks~

Jason held Emily and let her cry. He didn't try to offer her any platitudes, he just let her get it all out.

She wound down finally and took a hiccupping breath, and pulled free of him, digging into her bag for a Kleenex, "God I must look like a fright."

He studied her face, her mascara, and eyeliner had run down her face, leaving a trail of blackness, her eyes were red and puffy. "Well I wouldn't want Michael to see you right now, you'd scare him." He told her with a smile.

"Oh you." Emily gave him a half-hearted punch on the arm "Couldn't you lie every once in awhile?" She groaned rubbing her face.

"No." He answered briefly, teasing forgotten then, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She answered moving away from him to sit down on the bench again, "I guess I haven't let myself cry in a long time and I needed to. Nothing to worry about." She continued wanting him to let the subject drop.

"Em, you can tell me anything, I just want to help." Jason sat beside her.

Not this, never this. "Jason I'm fine really. I guess maybe this Rory situation shook me up more than I thought."

He sighed heavily, she wasn't going to tell him, at least not yet. He knew she was trying to change the subject so he let it drop for now, "Well it shook Rory too."

She smiled relieved that he wasn't going to push, that he never pushed. "She seems to find the whole situation funny."

"That's the way she handles things, she cracks jokes, teases, anything to draw the attention off of what she's really feeling. Her sense of humor is her defense mechanism."

She studied him, "Kind of like your silences and stillness, is yours."

'Yeah I guess so." He really hadn't thought about it like that. He just knew that when you were quiet people let you alone a lot quicker than when you answered back.

"Jason I just don't see how, you can't see the resemblance between them, and I mean their carbon copies of each other."

"I never met Elizabeth, Emily."

"Yes you did I introduced you two myself."

His head jerked up at that and he looked at her sharply, "When?" he demanded.

"When you still had partial custody of Michael. You came to visit one night when Elizabeth was staying over with me. I introduced the two of you, in his nursery, she was holding Michael."

Jason focused intently on the water taking his mind back to a time that he didn't allow himself to think about that much, a time when he was Michael's father. He had, had to close that part of his life out of his brain or it hurt too much. But he pushed passed the pain, to find the memory that Emily was talking about. He knew it would be there, because it was about Michael and Emily, they were too important to ever forget.

Finally he found it, and let out a snort and then a laugh. Emily gaped at him. "Sorry Em, but I remember now. You two weren't expecting me, you were dancing around the room, with Michael and singing, you had this green gunk all over your faces."

She colored, "Oh right."

"Sorry, but with that stuff on your face I could barely recognize you and I knew you. Elizabeth stammered out a hello, handed me Michael and tore out of the room, with you right behind her."

"Okay, I had forgotten about that." She tried again, "But what about Lucky and the bike shop?"

"She used the outside stairs, she never went inside the shop, so I never met her."

"But Kellys, Jason you ate there several times a week, and she worked there for years before she moved?" Emily asked she was getting desperate.

He sighed heavily, and scrubbed his hand over his face, here was the dicey part he thought. Finally he turned to look at her, "Since the accident, I've been able to pick and choose who I remember. Elizabeth wasn't important to me, she wasn't someone I knew from business so she didn't matter." He stood then and paced to the water's edge, "I don't remember people who don't matter, I can't."

The final words were said so quietly that she barely heard them. She knew then that she had pushed him for explanations and in doing so she had hurt him. She got up and slipped her arm around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder. "Okay you never met Elizabeth, so that's why you wouldn't prepared for the response Rory would get." She said knowing he wouldn't want her to make a big deal about what he had just said.

He smiled softly and a little of the tension in his body eased at her words. "No. If I knew I would have warned you about the resemblance, I wouldn't let you find out the way you did."

"Jason it's more than just a resemblance." She pulled away walking back to her bag. He watched her dig into her bag looking for something.

Her hand closed over the photograph, should she do this now? She knew that he had just been upset because she had made him think of things he couldn't do. She knew that he had a little trouble with photographs as well, she didn't want to hurt him again. Unsure she stood there her back to him, the photograph in her hand.

"It's okay Emily you can let me see it." His quiet voice broke into her thoughts. She turned to look at him questioningly. "You'll just have to get me started," he said with a smile easing her mind.

Emily brought the photo over to him, placing it in his hand. "It's me and Elizabeth, it was taken the night…" She took a deep breath and continued, "the night she died. I'm the one on the right, I have on a red shirt and blue jeans, I have a bandana around my head, and I'm holding up a paint brush."

He focused on the photograph and let her words wash over him. He concentrated on the person on the right, Emily because she was familiar to him. He let her words help him bring the image into his mind, and then he drew his sister into focus on the photograph. He smiled automatically at her grin, coming out of the photograph, she had paint on her nose.

Emily saw his smile, and took a breath before describing Elizabeth. "Elizabeth has on a pink shirt, and khaki pants. Her hair is piled up on the top of her head. She has her left arm slung around my shoulder, and is holding a water bottle in her right hand. Her mouth is open in a smile, Nikolas took the photo mid-laugh. She has brown hair, and blue eyes and is shorter than me."

His eyes had flicked to the other person, when Emily began to describe her, a pinprick of uneasiness washed through his system, as he watched the photograph take shape in this mind. Her hand and body came in clear first, he noticed her clothes were paint splattered. He concentrated on her face, and unconsciously held his breath, when her image cleared and he took his first look at Elizabeth Webber.

****

~Kellys~

Sonny stared after Lucky. He had been worried about him for a long time, and now he was more so, those last remarks were definitely a threat. He shook his head, remembering, how Rory's face had fallen when at his reaction to her, he had hurt her too.

Sighing heavily he walked into Kellys and took a seat at the table, smiling absentmindedly at Tammy when she brought him some coffee.

"Hi Sonny you want breakfast or lunch?"

"No coffee's fine. I just saw Lucky outside, how has he been?"

Tammy put the pot on the table and stood behind the chair across from him. "Not to good, I think he drinks every day now. I know that he's got to be reeling right now, what with this woman in town."

"You mean Rory?" Sonny asked.

"Yes, you saw her?" She saw his nod and continued, "My god when she first walked in here, I almost had a heart attack. I can only imagine what Lucky was feeling. I knew Lucky before I ever met Elizabeth, I knew how much he loved her, and I have watched up close and personal the hell he has been in ever since her death. I don't know how much longer he's going to hold on."

Sonny groaned inwardly at her words, "Is he still not talking to his parents?"

"No, Luke doesn't approach him anymore, but I know he keeps an eye on him. Laura comes by every week and tries to get through to him." Tammy saw someone else come into Kellys and take a seat, "Need anything else Sonny?"

Sonny shook his head and watched her walk away. He was going to have to keep a close eye on Lucky, to try to save him from himself, and from Jason if he kept after Rory.

****

~Docks~

He held his breath when her face came into focus, he found himself staring at a face he had long since memorized. The laughing blue eyes, that haunted him in his sleep, the smile that always made him smile, he could almost hear her familiar laugh. He let out the breath he was holding in a rush, and traced his finger over her face, "Rory." He whispered.

"No Elizabeth." Emily said sadly.

Jason tore his eyes from the picture when he really did hear her laugh, he focused on Rory, walking towards him with Johnny. His eyes went back to the picture then back to her, his eyes widened he had caught her in almost the same pose as the picture. Her mouth was open in a smile and a laugh and her blue eyes were looking at him. "Jesus." He managed before his hand tightened convulsively on the picture.

"Hi Jason, Emily," Rory called with a smile walking up to them, "Thanks Mr. Johnny," she said with a grin stepping away from him.

"You remember what I said Rory." Johnny said with a smile.

Jason's brain latched onto her name, coming out of Johnny's mouth. To say he was surprised would be putting it mildly. To this day Johnny still introduced Mike as Mike Corbin, and he was Sonny's father. He caught the teasing look on Rory's face and then he understood; she had tricked him.

Johnny's smile broke off when he looked at Jason. Ooops, he quickly put his serious look back on his face. "I'm going to get back to Sonny now. Miss Quartermaine, Jason," he started to move away and felt her eyes boring into him, "Rory," he finished reluctantly, he just new she was gloating.

Yep she tricked him, Jason thought with a shake of his head.

"Bye Mr. Johnny," Rory called after him, before turning to face Jason and Emily, her smile faded slightly, when she studied Jason she knew instantly that something was wrong.

"I was just passing through, I didn't mean to interrupt, I should be going anyway," Rory said brightly looking away from the pair out onto the water. She really loved the water. "What idiot would put such a big crane this near a dock?" she asked with a frown.

"A.J." Jason's answer was brief.

"That explains it," Rory said, then her eyes widened, remembering that Emily, A.J.'s sister was here.

"Uhhmm, I really need to go now and work off this late breakfast." She said quickly.

"Wait." Jason reached out to catch her hand.

"Yes, wait Rory, I have to go anyway. I'm late to meet Zander as it is." And won't he love that she thought darkly heading to her bag.

"Em," Jason said offering her the photo.

"Keep it, I'll get it later, bye you two." Emily said then flew up the stairs and was gone.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt. I didn't even plan on coming to the docks, I wasn't looking for you. I was just going to explore and then meet you at Jakes. But when Sonny told Johnny to bring me to you to get me away from Lucky, I didn't know I would be interr…" Rory broke off then aware of what she had said. Shoot, she moved away from him to sit on the bench, open mouth insert foot.

"What do you mean get you away from Lucky? He didn't accost you again did he?" Jason jumped in, he shoved the photo in his pocket and crossed to her his eyes raking over her for any fresh bruises. Anger, cold anger, was already seeping into his blood, into his bones.

"No he didn't hurt me. In fact, before I left Kellys he apologized for hurting me in the first place. But then when he followed me and we were alone, he got weird again, he wouldn't let me go and then Sonny showed up."

"Wait, alone, you left Kellys on purpose and then you were alone with him," Jason broke in glaring at her in a way only he could.

Who knew, that she would love the taste of her sneakers so much she would keep shoving them in her mouth? "I didn't mean too." Rory began.

He snorted.

"Well I didn't." She said getting angry at him, it wasn't her fault the man was an idiot who followed her. "He just made me mad in Kellys so I left before I hit him again. You did say you didn't want me to hit him again, so I left." She said getting up and facing the water.

"No I said I didn't want you to be alone with him." He countered moving up behind her quietly. "You know that."

She turned around to retort and found herself in his arms, his head bent down to look into her face. His eyes locked onto hers and the anger she had worked so hard to drum up evaporated. "Okay." She sighed under the pressure of those intense eyes.

She wrapped her arms around his back, her cold hands slipped under his shirt seeking the warmth of his skin, a muscle twitched in his face but that was his only reaction. "It's just, he made me mad. I asked him my name, and he said Elizabeth. It just pissed me off, the way he said it, like it was a given. Well you know I don't have the best control of my temper at anytime, and well I lost it." She finished with a smile before turning her head to rest it on his chest. "Sorry" she murmured. 

Jason let his head drop so his chin rested on her head. "I'm not trying to tell you what to do Rory, it's just, I worry about you." He said running his hand over her hair.

Her heart jumped and she shivered at the excitement his words awoke in her. She hid her smile in his chest, finally she looked up at him. "I am sorry Morgan, I will try to do better," She said.

He knew that was the best he could hope for, he let his mind wander to the photograph in his pocket. He needed to show it to her.

"So are you done with your meeting?" Her hands were tracing circles on his bare back.

His muscles tightened automatically at her touch and awareness slammed into him. "Yes." He said keeping his face impassive.

"So your free for awhile then?" She asked hopefully bringing one hand around towards his chest to rest on his abs.

"Yes for a couple of hours." He answered, trying to keep his breath even when her fingers started moving slowly up his chest. Her touch, or the cool breeze off the water, caused his nipples to harden.

"So what do you want to do?" She asked with a smile.

"I know the perfect thing to do." He said lowering his voice seductively and pulling away from her, "Let's take a ride on my bike and I'll show you Port Charles."

Her smile vanished, when he took her hand leading her down the dock. "You want to go for a bike ride?"

He heard the disbelief in her voice and kept his back to her grinning widely, he was enjoying this little payback for her stunt this morning.

"Yes, you always love to ride the bike." He answered careful to keep the smile out of his voice.

"Idiot." Rory mumbled walking beside him, "All men are idiots."


	8. Who the hell is in your shower?

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Explanation: This chapter has been edited to conform with the new board guidelines concerning chapters with sexual situations. If you'd like to read the chapter in its entirety and how it was originally written drop me an e-mail at **stephanie22304@yahoo.com**

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What If…

Chapter 7

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~Outback~

Emily rushed inside the Outback, her eyes scanning the lunch crowd for Zander. She walked down the steps and spotted him talking, no she thought recognizing the look on his face, flirting with a blonde. He was so involved, he didn't notice her until she pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Emily." Zander said turning to her, "You're finally here."

"Good of you to notice," she said icily, her eyes flicking to the blonde, "were not ready to order, so run along now," she finished with a glare.

The girl shrugged, "I'll be back," she said looking at Zander before walking towards the bar. Emily couldn't help but notice how his eyes locked on the girls butt when she walked away. Figures she thought bitterly.

"So where have you been?" Zander asked finally focusing on her again.

"I was talking with Jason and lost track of time. Sorry, I'm late." She replied taking a sip from the water glass.

"Jason again, man I see where this is heading, first last night, and now today." He said getting pissed.

She rolled her eyes, "Last night really didn't have anything to do with Jason, he just brought me home."

"Emily we had plans and you stood me up, so don't sit there and tell me not to be mad at that."

"I told you yesterday morning why I had to break them, it's not like I broke them at the last second. I wanted to be there for Lucky on the anniversary of Elizabeth's death. I explained that to you, or at least I tried too, you just didn't listen." Like usual.

"I told you that I had something special planned for us last night and I expected you to be there and you weren't you blew me off." He retorted glaring at her.

She sighed, "Look I don't want to go over this again with you. I told you last night in my room what happened. Can we just drop it? I was there for a friend end of story."

"Yeah, you'd do anything for a friend won't you. When Nikolas or Lucky calls you drop everything and rush right over there. I'm your boyfriend, and I see you less than they do."

And how many times have you blown me off to go sleep with some girl, she thought to herself, but of course she didn't say it "They are my friends Zander, you know that."

"Friends, yeah, friends who hate my guts, and spend the whole time telling you, you should dump me."

"No believe it or not Zander I do have other things in my life to talk about with them than you." She shot back slamming the water glass back down on the table.

He went on like she had never even spoken, "And now that your "Wonder" brother is back, it'll get even worse. That guy hates me."

She shrugged, "Maybe, I know he doesn't like you."

"Doesn't like me, Emily he held a gun on me," Zander cried out loudly, causing some heads to turn in their direction.

"Well you had a gun on him." Emily retorted.

"Maybe but you know I've never even fired a gun. But that guy, man his eyes are so dead and cold, you know that he has fired guns lots of times. Man he must be a robot, to be that cold." He mused.

She recoiled from him, staring at him in shock, which quickly gave way to anger, she may not be able to stand up for herself, but she sure as hell would stand up for Jason. "Shut your mouth Zander." She told him viscously.

Zander noticed her tone, before her words registered. He knew immediately that he had gone to far. He had ripped the brother she adored, time for damage control. "I'm sorry Emily, I didn't mean that, it's just not everyday someone hold's a gun to me, it's still a little unnerving to think about." He said softly, reaching for her hand.

She pulled her hand from the table and got to her feet, "I really don't feel like being around you right now Zander."

Zander rose as well, "Emily, please I'm sorry." he went on a little desperately, this was not good, "It's just I missed you last night, and I guess I was jealous of all the time you spend with people who don't even like me. With your brother here, I know it will only get worse, I guess I'm scared of losing you Emily."

"Zander, I'm really not hungry, I'll talk to you later." She reached into her bag, "But don't worry, I'll take care of your meal." She dropped some bills on the table, before turning to walk out.

Zander dropped back into his seat. Damn I played that one all wrong. She was slipping away from him, he knew it, and with her beloved brother here, she might be willing to end it entirely.

"The hell she will." He muttered, I have worked to long on Emily Quartermaine for it to blow up in my face now. It was time to step up the plan, he thought to himself as he watched the blonde work her away back to his table. Emily won't know what hit her, he thought smiling at the blonde. 

****

~Jakes~

Jason parked in the alley, next to the back door feeling exhilarated, a long ride always made him feel good, especially when Rory was behind him, holding onto him and yelling in the wind.

He felt her slide off of the bike, and watched her ripped the helmet off to smile at him, her blue eyes shining. She loved riding as much as he did. Looking at her now he was struck with how vibrant and beautiful she was. She was talking a mile a minute like usual, but for once he didn't listen. He got off the bike and took the helmet out of her hands, and placed it on the tail light. He leaned back against the seat and pulled her into her arms, cutting her words off with a kiss.

Rory responded automatically, her arms wrapping around his neck, drawing him closer. He buried his hands in her hair and nipped at her bottom lip, then quickly flicked his tongue over it to soothe.

She opened her mouth and seemed to dissolve into his hard body when his tongue entered her mouth. She was always so soft and so responsive to his touch. She matched him fire for fire, but sometimes when she submitted completely, the sweetness was so strong it was hard for him to breath.

He thrust his leg between hers and pulled her closer to him, she let out a moan, his mouth left hers to trail kisses along her jaw. His mouth nipped at her ear, before moving on down her throat. She arched her back to allow him easier access, her hands dropping from his neck to his hips to hold onto him.

They both jerked when the blast of a horn, shattered the peace around them. Jason turned his head to meet the face of a smiling delivery driver who honked at them again. Rory groaned and dropped her head on his shoulder. "I hate this town."

"He's just jealous." He whispered in her ear, Rory tensed at the feel of his breath on her skin and looked up at him, "Yeah he just jealous of my…bike." He finished with a grin.

"Jason." She yelled, smacking his arm and stepping away from him when she felt laughter start to rise inside of her. "Now cut that out," she said frowning at him, "I'm the sarcastic one in this relationship, you're the strong silent type."

"Yes ma'am." He said with a smile and a mock salute, getting to his feet, taking her hand and pulling her towards the back door of Jakes. "I'm a firm believer in doing what you do best," He continued opening the door for her, "And god knows you could never play a silent role." He finished letting the door slam.

"Morgan." She whirled on him, looking up into his laughing eyes, "I do not talk too much," she saw him raise his eyebrows and look down at her, "I have to talk for two, since you forget how to speak sometimes."

With that she turned and crossed to the stairs, she walked up a couple of steps before turning to speak, she jolted, he was right behind her. Damn the man didn't he ever make noise?

"You talk too much." He said slipping his arm around her waist pulling her to him, with her on the steps above him, he could stare directly in her eyes. He leaned forward and kissed her again.

"I…do…n-not." She replied breathlessly between kisses when he began to back her up the stairs.

"Yes you do." He said before kissing her, "You are right now."

He backed her up another step, his hands on her hips guiding her, he remained two steps below her so they were the same height. 

"I d-don't." She said while his mouth drifted over her face. She jerked her eyes open and tried again, "I don't." She managed when she gained the landing.

He closed the last two steps between them to join her on the landing, he moved her back slightly, but it was like he was trying to occupy her space. "I don't care." He said bending at the knees to kiss her, wrapping his arms around her waist. He rose then, her arms wrapped around his neck. He carried her down the hall, his mouth never leaving hers. He set her down slowly at the door, his hand digging for the key in his pants. He broke the kiss to focus on the lock, and finally opened the door. "I don't care, as long as you shut up now." He said moving her into the room and slamming the door behind him.

"Your awfully bossy today Morgan." Rory said backing away from him to shrug out of her coat and fling it on a chair.

"Sometimes I have to be, when I want to handle you." He replied mirroring her actions with his own jacket.

Her eyes lit at that remark, "Handle me?" She sputtered, her hands went to her sweater and pulled it off of her and dropped it on the floor. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him while he tugged his own shirt off and dropped it to the floor.

"Morgan." She crossed to him, to run her hands up and down his arms, "You may think that you can handle me, but you can't."

Yes I can he thought, while he wisely kept his mouth shut.

"But…I…know…how…to…handle…you." She said pausing between each word, so she could kiss his chest.

Jason closed his eyes and leaned against the door, as her mouth explored his chest. Her hands moved from his arms to his hips, his eyes flew open when she began to tickle him.

"Hey!" He jerked back, trying to get away from her hands, hitting his head against the door in his haste.

"I know your weakness." She said laughing up at him, "Mr. Tough Guy, Jason Morgan, is as ticklish as hell."

He tried to capture her hands, and kept jerking his body away from her touch, which was very hard to do, while he was laughing so hard. He feinted and tried to catch her hands again and then changing his mind, he bent down and picked her up, his arm locking around her knees, forcing her to fall forward over his shoulder.

"Jason." she managed on a laugh, that was cut off when he playfully swatted her rear, "put me dow…" her breath went out of her in a rush when her back hit the mattress when he dropped her on the bed.

He took advantage of her breathlessness to pull off his boots, and jeans before lying down on top of her, supporting his weight on his elbows, so as not to crush her. Her hands reached for him and he read the intention of her actions in her eyes. "I think you can find a better use for your hands," he said slowly, seductively, his intense eyes capturing hers for a second before he lowered his mouth to hers.

~*~*~*~

He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard her mumble something into his chest, "What?"

"I said." She spoke again lifting her head to rest her chin on his chest, to look at him, "I do not talk too much."

Jason laughed, there it was again that feeling that only she seemed to be able to bring out in him, "Yes you do."

She glared at him, and then pouted "Not." She said moving her hands perilously close to his exposed ribs. Too close for his liking he caught her hands and rolled over, pinning her down to the bed with his weight.

"As much as I would love to stay here and argue with you, I have to go." He said with a smile and a quick kiss, "We'll have to argue later."

He let go and got to his feet, and disappeared into the bathroom before Rory had the opportunity to curse him.

Move, she ordered her muscles, go after him and hit him. But they ignored her they were comatose at the moment. Jason walked out of the bathroom, and moved over to his clothes that were lying on the floor.

"You know I believe I really could learn to hate Sonny." She muttered from the bed watching him pull on his briefs.

Jason smiled at her but said nothing, he knew she was pouting, resolute he turned away from the image of her lying naked in his bed.

"Fine." She got off the bed, "I'll take a quick shower and then you can take me to my car."

"Okay." He said not looking at her, like he really should have been, he jerked when she slipped her arms around him from behind.

"Want to join me?"

Jason peeled her hands off of him, "I'll be leaving in 15 minutes with or without you."

She sighed and moved to the bathroom door. "If you change your mind I'll be in here." She gestured to the door, "You won't be able to miss me, I'll be the one who's naked and wet."

He waited until she closed the door before he let out a curse. One day she really was going to kill him.

He was halfway to the bathroom when someone knocked on the door. It was for the best he told himself crossing to the door, he really did have to meet Sonny, "WHAT!" he practically shouted when he wrenched the door open.

"Well that's a hell of a welcome Jase." Carly said brushing past him into the room.

Shit, not now, Jason thought. He knew Carly and Rory were going to meet eventually, he just had never thought they would meet in this particular situation.

"You okay Jase?" Carly asked studying her best friend, "What were you doing working out?"

He glanced down and saw that he was only in his jeans, he looked around for his shirt, and saw it on the floor.

She watched him pick up the shirt off the floor. That was weird, he never left his clothes on the floor. Starting to get a bad feeling she looked around the room, she saw the rumpled bed, the clothes strewn over the floor, she turned to look at Jason who had his back to her, and she saw the fresh scratches on his back.

"So what were you doing?" Carly asked softly.

"Let it alone Carly."

"Talk to me Jason." She began only to be cut off when she heard the shower turn on in the bathroom. She looked at the door and then back at her best friend, "Who in the hell is in your shower?"


	9. All Hail the Conquering Hero

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 8

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~Jakes~

"Who's in your shower Jase?' Carly repeated.

"None of your business Carly, I think you better go now," Jason said wanting her out of here.

"Leave, why Jason I just got here." She answered her mind racing, "So you brought in some bimbo for the day, no big deal Jase."

"Carly." He said with a sigh pinching his nose.

Yeah it was just a bimbo, a nooner, she thought glancing around the room again. Her eyes widened when she noticed the perfume bottle and hair brush on the dresser, she saw the suitcase opened against the wall, and women's clothing inside of it, she swallowed hard noticing a few pairs of women's shoes casually thrown under a chair. This was not good.

"Carly she is not a bimbo, I'd like you to leave now." He said with an edge to his voice when he noticed her not moving.

"So she's not a bimbo, then I definitely want to meet her. We can compare notes or something," She tossed off, damned if she was leaving before that door opened.

"Carly, I said leave, I will call you later."

"Why don't you want me to meet her Jase? What are you trying to hide from me? It won't do you any good you know I will find out eventually, so what are you trying to hide fro…" Carly broke off when an awful thought raced through her mind. No, he wouldn't, he couldn't.

She turned away and studied the clothes on the floor, they were small, petite, her eyes flicked to the shoes also small. Getting frantic now she moved closer to the bed and saw a long dark hair silhouetted against the white of the pillowcase.

"You didn't go to Paris did you Jason?" she asked in a whisper, feeling like she had been punched, he couldn't have gone to her, not after everything she had done.

"What?"

Carly turned to face him "You sonofabitch." She said softly glaring at him.

He stared at her stunned, he was too surprised to stop her when she moved to the bathroom door in a rush. "Robin, you little witch, get your scrawny ass out her." She yelled through the door pounding on it.

His hand closed on the doorknob an instant before hers did. Furious she turned on him, "How in the hell could you go to her, after everything she did to me, to Michael, to you, how could you go back to her?" Her voice broke in pain at the words.

"Carly." Jason reached out for her.

She stepped away, "I know that I hurt you, that's what I do, I hurt you and I'm sorry later. But you know I only do that when I get scared, and don't think. You know that I don't deliberately set out to hurt you, it just seems to end up that way." She walked away slowly, tears pouring down her face.

"But Robin, Jesus Jason, Robin thinks everything through logically and then she hurts you anyway. She is deliberately cruel. How could you go to her after…" Her voice broke and she choked on a sob, she was not going to let that witch back in Jason's life.

She swiped at the tears and stormed towards the bathroom door, Jason shifted in front of her to block her and tried again, "Carly calm down, it's not…"

Carly ignored him, yelling through him and the door, "Robin you little twit, get your butt out here, I am not letting you destroy him again."

Rory jerked in the shower and glanced towards the door, who was yelling the name Robin, puzzled she began to rinse the soap off of her.

"Carly." Jason snapped catching her arm.

"Why Jason?" She asked looking up at him, tears streaking her face. "I know Sonny and I hurt you, but you said you forgave us. You gave us your blessing for our wedding, you even convinced me to go through with the wedding. Why would you do all that and then punish me like this?"

"Carly." He sighed and pulled her into his arms, "It's not Robin."

She shuddered, unwilling to believe she heard him correctly, she pulled away to look at him "It's not?"

"No, I haven't seen Robin since that last night when I told her I never wanted to see her again," He answered relieved that she was finally listening.

"Not Robin." She repeated and relief coursed through her when she saw Jason nod in confirmation. Relief turned to anger swiftly and she smacked him on the arm, "Well why didn't you tell me that? God you let me go off like that and let me believe that it was Robin, what is wrong with you?"

Jason shook his head, he couldn't win with her, "When was I supposed to tell you? When you came bursting through the door? When you started jumping down my throat because _you_ jumped to the conclusion that it was Robin in the shower? When?" he asked.

"Well who is it then?" She asked at the same time the shower in the bathroom was shut off.

"A friend Carly. My friend who you will meet another time, because you have to leave now." He answered taking her arm to propel her to the door.

"What's wrong with now?" She asked trying to slow him down that door should open any second now.

"Carly leave." Jason said opening the door.

"Wait." She tried again when he gently, but firmly pushed her out the door.

"I'll call you." He said shutting the door on her face just as he heard the bathroom door open behind him.

She raised her hand to pound on the door then stopped herself, maybe this was a good thing. She would rather meet the little twit later when Jason wasn't around so they could get some things straight. She turned and walked down the hall, Jason was the sweetest man she had ever met, but he was, well he was clueless when it came to women. She would have to protect him from himself, and the little viper.

"Who was that?" Rory asked walking out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, her long hair pinned up on her head. "I thought I heard someone yelling Robin." She continued getting dressed.

"It was Carly."

Rory paused in the process of pulling on her pants and looked up at him, "How did she take the news?"

"She thought you were Robin." he said with a sigh leaning against the door.

"Robin?" Rory asked surprised, "Why would she think that?"

"I don't know. I don't know why Carly thinks most of the things she does," Jason replied running his hand over his face.

She sat on the bed to pull on her boots "So when am I going to meet hurricane Carly?"

"Well if she had her way it would have been five minutes ago while you were in the shower." He replied shoving off the door to look out the window, there was no sign of the car or driver, Carly was gone, "Now that she knows about you I'm betting you'll meet her before too long, Carly's not exactly the patient type."

"Peachy." She muttered crossing to the dresser pulling the pins out of her hair. Her hand closed on the brush at the same time his did, she let hers fall away and looked up at him through the mirror over the dresser when he brought it up to her hair. The thrill she normally felt when he brushed her hair was missing as she thought about Carly. 

She knew a lot about Carly, and could guess about the stuff he hadn't told her. But she also knew that even after everything she had done to him, Jason still loved her. She knew he wasn't in love with her, that he had never been in love with her, but she knew that he did love her and always would. It was this knowledge that made Rory a little nervous when she thought about meeting Carly. The last thing she wanted to do was to put Jason in the middle of the two of them, but there was a very good chance that, that would be exactly where he would end up.

Rory was pulled out of her reverie when Jason dropped a kiss on her head and ran his hands through her hair. "Don't worry about Carly, I can handle her," he told her his eyes locking on hers in the mirror.

"I'm not worried about Carly, whether we get along or not is not a big deal. I'm worried about you Jason, I know that it will hurt you if we don't get along and you get dragged into the middle of us. I don't want to hurt you, I I…" She cut-off when the phone rang, "You better get that, your probably being summoned." 

He walked to the phone with a frown, he wanted Rory to finish her thought but he new the moment was lost for now. "Morgan." he said into the phone.

She sighed heavily, whether it was from relief or disappointment she didn't really know. Probably both. She knew that she loved him, that she had been in love with him since those first crazy meetings of theirs, but she couldn't tell him that she loved him. They had never spoken about the future, and the word love had a way of changing the way people thought about the future anyway.

She picked up her coat and slipped it on, watching him, she knew he cared about her, her being here proved that. But she was not going to force her feelings of love onto him, when he might not feel the same way. She refused to let him feel sorry for her if he didn't feel that way. So for now she kept those pesky love words locked away in her heart. She noticed him looking at her and belatedly noticed that he had hung up the phone. "Well I'm ready are you?" she asked brightly trying to dispel the tension in the room.

"Let's go." He said with a sigh after a minute more of watching her, he felt the disappointment again, for a minute he thought she was going to say something else. He picked up his coat and opened the door for her.

"So I get to drive right?" She walked through the door.

"Wrong."

"Why not? I know how to drive a motorcycle."

"You can't handle, your weight, my weight and the bikes weight, you know that," Jason answered slipping into the familiar argument and taking her hand to lead her to the stairs.

"Yes I could, I'm a lot stronger than I look."

****

~Park~

Emily sat on the bench, still upset over what Zander had said about Jason, she knew she shouldn't be surprised by his words but she was. Lately it seemed that all they seemed to do was disagree.

She sighed heavily watching a woman chase a toddler around the swings. Disagree wasn't the right word, Zander refused to fight with her, he would just ignore what he didn't want to hear. Lately he had been ignoring her a lot. She hated to think that she was wrong about him and everyone else had been right all along. She stood quickly trying to banish that thought. Zander was a great guy she told herself desperately. All relationships have their rough spots that's all this was a rough spot. She began walking again to the exit of the park, she had found that it was harder to think such thoughts when you were moving.

She looked up and saw Lucky standing on the path at the entrance to the park from Elm street, "Lucky," she called hurrying to catch him.

Lucky turned when she touched his arm, "Emily." He said with a smile focusing on her.

Her own smile faded when she saw the bruises on his face, "Are you okay?"

"Okay, I'm great." he answered with the first real smile she had seen from him in months, "Did you see her? Nikolas said you did, she's back, isn't that great?"

Her heart sank, this was going to be so bad for Lucky, "Yes I met Rory, and I talked to her at breakfast."

"Her name isn't Rory it's Elizabeth."

"Lucky." Emily took his arm and pulled him over to the low wall that bordered the side of the park and sat down, "I know that she looks like Elizabeth, but Lucky it isn't her." She said as gently as she could.

"Yes it is, she's just confused." he said adamantly and tried to pull away.

She kept her hand locked on his, "Lucky," she tried again "Lucky please look at me." She asked and waited until he did.

"I know how much you miss Elizabeth and what you would do to have her back even if it was for only a minute, but Lucky, Rory is not Elizabeth." She said her eyes locking on his.

"Yes she is."

"No Lucky, she's not, you know Elizabeth is gone, now you have to stop this."

"Emily, I know you don't understand," Lucky said after a pause his hand squeezing hers briefly before continuing, "I don't really understand it myself, but this is Port Charles after all, strange things happen here all the time. Elizabeth is back, I don't know how or why and I don't care, I only know she is here. Rory is Elizabeth, I know that the same way that I know that the sky is blue."

"Lucky." Her eyes began to fill.

"It's okay Emily, I'm not crazy, I'm not drunk, for the first time in years I am myself, and I know what I know, Rory is Elizabeth. All I have to do is help her remember, once she does the hell of these past two years will finally be gone." He told her shifting to face her.

"I know that you have been worried about me, both you and Nikolas. But I am fine now, she's back and soon she will be home with me, I'm not going to fall apart anymore, I have something to live for, someone to fight for, I'm going to be okay."

The tears slipped down her face her heart was breaking. Her friend was back, she could see it in his eyes, and in the cocky yet confident way he held himself. Lucky Spencer was finally alive again after two years, but it was so awful, he was alive to chase a dream that could never be.

"Don't cry Emmy." Lucky said using an old nickname for her brushing her tears from her face.

"Lucky, I miss Elizabeth too, especially now, but…" Emily stopped when she saw his attention shift away from her. Then she heard the sound of a motorcycle. She looked over at the street in time to see Jason and Rory go by on the bike, and head in the direction of Kellys.

Lucky stood quickly, "I'll talk to you later Emily," he said quickly shooting her his trademark grin, before turning to hurry after the bike.

"Lucky wait." She called after him getting to her feet, but it was too late he was already gone chasing a dream.

****

~Parking Lot~

"I still don't see why I couldn't drive." She grumbled getting off the bike.

"Well, because I had the keys?" Jason offered with a teasing smile.

She glared at him "You shouldn't make me angry Morgan," she said narrowing her eyes at him as he watched her from astride the bike.

"Really?" He said dryly.

"Yes, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." She answered with the famous line knowing he wouldn't know where it was from.

"I wouldn't?" He asked with a smirk and raise of the brow "What do you think you could do to me?"

She leaned against his leg and pulled his head closer to hers, "I fight dirty Morgan. Remember that, oh and remember there are lots of times that I'm awake while your asleep, and I know how to use a pair of scissors." She whispered, running her hands meaningfully through his hair.

"Well isn't this cozy." A voice called out mockingly from behind Rory. She saw Jason's eyes move to the new arrival.

Rory watched as the teasing light in his eyes was extinguished in an instant and a cold mask slipped over his face, she felt the tension slam into his body. She shifted to face the newcomer, and Jason got off the bike quickly to stand in front of her.

"Should we strike up the band to play All Hail the Conquering Hero?"

She focused on the man, he was about 5'10" with dark hair, his clothes were expensive, his handsome face twisted in a sneer as he focused on Jason. She could sense the anger and uneasiness coming from the man, as Jason continued to stare at him.

"I would have thought this would be the last place you would want to be after the way you left last winter. How does it feel Jason, to be played? Carly played me and she played you before moving onto Sonny. I got to know golden boy, did you like that feeling?" he asked tauntingly moving closer to Jason.

Rory rubbed her hand over Jason's back and noted all the muscles there were tense ready to spring, in an instant she knew who the newcomer was, it was A.J. Quartermaine.

****

~Penthouse~

Carly barely waited for the door to open, before she stormed from the car.

"Mrs. Corinthos." Johnny said opening the door.

She never even spared him a glance, she walked past him, into the living room, where Sonny was on the phone.

"Right that's what I said three dozen." Sonny said into the phone and smiled at Carly.

She leaned against the table and waited, she knew by the smile that it was only coffee business she was allowed to stay. Allowed the word made her already mercurial temper spike. Leave the room Carly, go upstairs Carly, its business Carly, man she was sick of that.

"Your home early." Sonny said crossing to her to kiss her briefly, she grabbed his face and drew it down for a deeper, longer kiss.

"Yeah, I went to see Jason." She answered when she broke the kiss.

"Uhhm." Sonny murmured distractedly walking back to his desk.

"You will never guess what, no I should say who I found there with him," Carly said pacing the room.

"Who, oh you mean Rory." Sonny answered only half listening to her, his eyes focusing on the invoice.

"Rory? Is that the little viper's name? What the hell kind of name is Rory, it sounds like a disease," Carly went on for a minute before stopping.

Sonny was tipped off by the silence, he looked at Carly who had crossed her arms and was staring at him. "How did you know her name?" Carly asked quietly. Quietly was never a good thing when it came to Carly.

"Jason told me."

"Jason told you and you didn't tell me, why? It wasn't business, so why didn't you tell me?" Carly demanded.

"It was Jason's decision when or if to tell you, not mine."

"You're my husband and he's my best friend, and after everything I did to wreck his life the least you could do was tell me." She sat on the couch.

Sonny walked over and sat on the ottoman facing her, "Carly the only reason Jason told me, was because he had to. I met her under some," He paused not wanting to tell her too much, "interesting circumstances and Jason told me about her, even then he didn't tell me that much."

"When could you have met her, the only time you've been gone." She trailed off thinking, "The only time you were gone was last December before Christmas. He's been with her since December?" She finished incredulous, she felt so hurt that Jason hadn't told her.

He read the hurt in her eyes, "Carly I don't know if he would have told me if he didn't have to. You know how he is, he keeps things to himself; I know he didn't deliberately try to hurt you."

"It's just," She began a tear slipping from her eye, "I want him to be happy. Of the three of us, he is the one that deserves to be happy. You and I hurt him, and he forgave us, you and I are happy, and he's happy for us, I just want him to be happy too. If I know that he is happy maybe it will help…" she broke off again.

"Maybe it will help stop the guilt you still feel, the guilt that I still feel," Sonny finished for her.

"Yes."

He picked up her hands and pulled her from the back of the couch, closer to him, "I want that too. It doesn't seem right that we are so happy, and started being so, by wrecking his life. But Carly I think he is happy." He sighed and kissed her hand before continuing, "I think he's been happy for a long time. When he came back this last summer, he was worried about Emily and glad for us with the wedding, but there was a change in him, he was more relaxed, happier."

"You think he was with her even then?" Carly asked, not really sure if she liked that idea or not.

"Maybe."

She thought back and remembered a time when she had caught him on the phone. He had been talking to someone, saying something like he would be back as soon as he could. She had thought it was about Emily, but then she remembered his tone of voice, it was soft not like it was when he spoke with one of the guys. He had hung up as soon as he saw her.

"That's like eight months Sonny, why wouldn't he tell us?"

He looked into her eyes for a long time before he spoke, "For a while there, when he first left, you were convinced you were in love with him. In the days before we got married, you were expecting to leave town with him so you wouldn't have to testify against me."

"Sonny you know that I was in love with you even then, don't you?" She gripped his hands, "Jason was right I was never in love with him, I have only been in love once and that is with you."

He smiled his dimples flashing and lightening his face, "Now I know that, but then it wasn't quite as clear. Jason was the one who convinced you to marry me. He knew about us before we did."

"Of course Jason knew, he knows both of us better than anyone. You had to know how much I cared about you though, I only try to destroy the lives of people I love." Carly smiled at him running her hand down his cheek.

"Then I should consider myself lucky." He said with a smile, before sobering again, "You were running scared Carly, and you made a good show of wanting to leave the country with him."

"I was scared, scared of what I was feeling for you, and scared of not knowing how you felt about me, it was never that I wanted Jason instead of you."

"I know, but Jason didn't want to hurt you Carly. Telling you he had someone else in his life would have hurt you. Even when we wrecked his life he didn't want to hurt you, he left town to help you realize that you weren't in love with him. That he was just your best friend."

"You know I love you." She said kissing him, "I just want Jason to be as happy as we are."

"So you'll back off about Rory?" He asked keeping his eyes on hers.

"If Rory makes him happy, I won't have a problem with her." She answered, her eyes never leaving his, while at the same time she was thinking, the little tramp would have to convince her first.

"Jason should be here any minute, we got business, then you can talk about this if you want." He said getting up and moving to the desk.

Carly sat back on the couch and smiled, Jason would be here, Rory would be alone, perfect. "No I have a meeting I have to get to, something I just can't put off any longer." She came up behind him and slipped her arms around his waist "So what are you cooking tonight?"

"I'm cooking?"

"Well if you want me to cook, I still have some frozen pizzas I can nuke." She offered knowing what his response would be.

"Stay out of my kitchen and be back by 8:00." He said quickly.

"Later baby." Carly kissed his cheek, then rubbed the lipstick off of it, before heading for the door.

It wasn't that she didn't believe Sonny, Carly thought while she waited for the elevator, but she knew there was more to it than that. The only reason Jason wouldn't want her to meet this Rory was if she was a Robin Scorpio clone. Her eyes took on a martial gleam when she got on the elevator, it really didn't matter, she had gotten rid of Robin and she would get rid of Rory too. The little twit would never know what hit her, she thought with a canary smile.


	10. Bugs on the windshield

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 9

****

~Parking Lot~

Jason didn't answer A.J. he just stared at him and concentrated on holding on to his temper. A.J. was the only person in the world that could make him snap in less than 2 minutes, he hated that, but was unable to stop it.

"What, no words of wisdom from the golden boy? Come on Jason, I'm dying to know, how does it feel to be disposable to her, just like the rest of us that were crushed under her feet," A.J. taunted with a sneer.

"Go away A.J."

"Oh wait, she called you in a panic, begging you for help, needing you to save her again from me. And here you come riding to the rescue like the hero you like to think you are, to save Carly from yet another mess that she has in her life. What do you think Jason that if you save her again, she'll dump Sonny for you?"

Jason said nothing, he felt Rory's hand run over his back in an attempt to soothe him.

"After what she did to you too. I mean sleeping with and getting knocked up by your best friend, while she was claiming to be in love with you, and married to me," A.J. shook his head before continuing, "Yet you come back here, to help her out, acting like a hero, when your nothing of the sort, you're a thug, a criminal, a baby stealer, and a blackmailer, who destroys just like Carly," A.J. said stepping closer to Jason his temper overriding his sense at the moment.

Jason kept quiet knowing it would do no good to explain that A.J. had wrecked his life on his own.

"She knows I'm going to get Michael back, so she sends up an S.O.S. for you Jason. And what do you do, God you come running, to her rescue, Jason your brains really must be scrambled," A.J. pushed desperate to get a reaction from him "I mean I've been there, she's good in bed, hell it's what she does best after all, but…"

A.J.'s words were cut off when Jason reached out and grabbed his jacket yanking him closer, "Shut your mouth," he ordered coldly, before he shoved him away.

"Jesus A.J. don't you have a bottle to crawl into? I'm sure the worm is lonely without you." Rory couldn't hold back any longer, she was so mad at the way he was attacking Jason and Carly.

A.J. focused on her his eyes widening, "You're," he began, pointing at her.

"No I'm not, to many drinks have fried your brain cells" Rory interrupted, "Now run along all the winos should be at the mission by now."

A.J. glared at her, before focusing on his brother, "So you brought another tramp home with you, she must be great in bed too. I know you only have two types of women the saint like Robin or the whore like Carly, I can tell already that she ain't a saint so I guess that makes her a whore."

Jason hit him then sending A.J. to the ground, "You will never say that about her or Carly again." He said bending down to jerk A.J. to his feet, "You will never even speak to her again, do you hear me?" Jason ordered throwing A.J. back against a parked car.

Rory scanned the area and saw too many interested onlookers; onlookers who saw Jason throw the first punch. She moved in between the two men her eyes focusing on A.J., "Why A.J. I'm better than great in bed, I'm dynamite." She began stepping towards him "But you'll never know." She said straightening his coat and smiling at him seductively, "You see I like men." She continued running her hand over his face, "Not whiny little boys who blame everyone else for their miserable lives. So run along back to the playground little boy." She finished and tapped him on the face and laughing at him, before turning her back on him to face Jason "Ain't jealousy a bitch?"

"This isn't over." A.J. said.

"Talk to the hand, shorty, talk to the hand." Rory said never even glancing at him, when she heard him leave.

Jason kept his clenched fists in his pockets and tried to control the anger that A.J. always awoke in him.

She could see the temper and the threat of violence shimmering around him, begging to be released. His eyes were a darker, bitter blue, his stance tense like he was prepared to spring. She pushed her own anger aside and focused on calming him down in her own unique way.

"Man that boy is an idiot. Either he was dropped on his head one to many times as a kid, or all that alcohol he drinks finally found his way to his miniscule brain and killed what was left of the brain cells."

He kept his eyes on the car behind her, he couldn't speak yet, and he hated the fact that A.J. got to him.

"I always knew A.J. was an idiot." She went on beginning to pace in front of Jason, "I mean you were practically verbose when it came to him, so I knew he was something to you." She watched his eyes flicker to follow her movements, "But I didn't know until now that he was your Camilla, so now that I know that, your unusual talkiness on the subject of A.J. makes sense."

"I didn't talk about A.J. much." He interrupted listening in spite of himself.

"Jason your silences on the subject of A.J. spoke volumes, man it was a wonder I didn't go deaf." Rory came to a stop in front of him, "But I understand now, it's the Camilla factor."

"The Camilla factor?" He asked rubbing his hand over the back of his neck trying to ease the ball of tension that had formed there.

"Camilla Dixon, a little viper, that was the bane of my existence, all she had to do was walk in the room and I was ready to kill her." She answered beginning to pace again, her eyes sparkling with the memory, "She was in my class, and we fought, literally fought every day. We were sent to the principal's office daily. It got to be so bad that Mr. Wallace, the principal would come to look for us if we hadn't been there by noon. On those rare days it turned out one of us was gone."

She stopped suddenly and let out a laugh, "I broke her nose once, one shot and the blood went spurting everywhere. Got a 3 day suspension for that, but man was it worth it." 

"How old were you?" Jason asked.

"First grade." Rory answered studying him from the corner of her eye, some of the tension was leaving him, and he was listening to her. That was a good sign.

"First grade, man what did she do to you? Steal your doll?" He asked surprised.

She walked up to him and poked him hard in the chest, "What did she do?" She repeated, poking him again "She was breathing." Exasperated with him, sometimes he was just so clueless.

He smothered a laugh, she seemed genuinely mad.

"So A.J. is you Camilla, and do you want to know what both of them really are?" She asked looking up at him.

"I'm afraid to ask."

She caught the reluctant humor in his voice, and refrained, barely, from doing a happy dance, it had worked, "They're bugs on the windshield." She stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

Jason did smile then, "Really, how so?"

"Well when you drive a car, bugs like to commit suicide by creaming your window, it's no big deal most of the time. But sometimes, you get a really big and juicy bug, and when they hit your window, they leave a hell of a mess. Those are the ones that make you stop the car to clean your windshield, and when you forget about them, and it get's baked on there, their the ones that take forever to get off. A.J.'s an idiot, who likes to leave messes in other peoples lives and waits for others to clean it up. But you see once you clean up the mess then you get rid of him, just like a bug on a windshield. So in truth A.J. might be a little bit bigger, but he's still a bug, and eventually they all get squished." Rory finished and leaned back against her car, watching him.

He smiled at her, somewhere during her rambling monologue, the anger had disappeared, just like he was sure she had intended.

He crossed to her and put his hands on her face drawing her to him bending slightly to kiss her. The kiss was burning in its sweetness, his lips on hers in a feathery caress that rocked her down to her toes. It was a kiss that demanded nothing yet expected everything in return it was pure and potent. He broke the kiss and dropped another on her forehead before moving to his bike and getting on it.

"W-what was that for?" Rory managed finally.

Jason paused in the act of pulling on his helmet and shrugged, "Because you were breathing."

She swallowed hard watching him ride away, she was going to have to remember this breathing thing. Her eyes were drawn then to a figure drawing closer that was waving at her. She squinted at the figure and drew Lucky Spencer into focus. No this was to perfect of a moment to have it ruined by him, she turned quickly and got into her car. She started the engine with a powerful roar and began heading towards the outlet.

Lucky jerked to a halt, so she didn't run him over when she tore out of the parking lot and fishtailed her way onto the road. He couldn't help but smile, the first time he ever rode with Elizabeth, she had managed to drive them off the road. It looked like her driving skills hadn't improved.

****

~Jakes~

Carly walked down the steps and reentered the bar frustrated that Miss Thang was not in residence upstairs. She saw one new arrival a woman by the pool table. Carly studied her, she was petite, with long dark hair, she watched the woman execute a tricky combination to win the game, and then hold out her hand for the money grinning triumphantly. No Carly thought that couldn't be Miss Priss Rory.

Rory looked up from the pool table and noticed the taller well dressed blonde studying her "Wanna play?" She asked, always on the look out for another mark.

"I'm waiting for someone," Carly answered.

"While you wait then? I'll take it easy on you, we can play slop rules," Rory offered with a smile racking the balls.

Carly thought about it, it had been a long time since she had played any pool, and she thought she could take the brunette down a peg or two in the process, slop rules indeed, "Why not?" She said selecting a cue, "But usual stakes."

"Okay." Rory nodded, she could always use some more cash, and Blondie here looked like she could afford to lose it.

"Your table, your break."

Rory broke quickly and sent a solid into the pocket, "So who are you waiting for your boyfriend?"

"No a little tramp," Carly answered bitterly.

Rory glanced at the woman lining up her shot, she noticed the wedding ring, "Oh so she's your husbands girlfriend?"

"What?" Carly cried, "No my best friend has some little viper clinging to him, and I'm here to get rid of her."

"Is she that bad?" Rory asked trying a two-bank combination and missed.

Carly scanned the pool table for her best shot before continuing, "Yes, my friend is the sweetest man in the world, but he has absolutely no sense when it comes to women."

"Most men don't," Rory said taking a swallow of her soda, "So what did she do?"

"I don't know, I've never met her, specifically."

"Then how do you know she's a viper?" Rory asked perplexed.

"Because I know my best friend, he likes a certain kind of woman, one with a saint complex. One of those girls who knows what is right for everyone else and then tells them so." Carly began getting fired up, "One of those goody goody types with their butter won't melt in my mouth crap, as they turn around and stab you in the back the moment your vulnerable," the image of Robin entered her mind and she missed her next shot.

"Oh one of those fake girls. Man I hate people like that, Telling you to do something because it's for your own good while they do the opposite, I've met plenty of hypocrites like that, sounds like your friend definitely needs your help." Rory said moving to the table.

"Yeah, everyone knows about me and the damage I cause, I don't try to hide it. This girl hides that she's a bitch, and instead cries out help me I'm a victim, all the while causing more damage than I ever could." Carly knew she was mixing Rory with Robin in her mind. Condemning Rory to be another Robin before she had even met her, but she knew the only reason Jason would try to hide her was if she was like Robin.

"People like that suck, I'm no angel, but I'm up front about it. I hate twits like that who lie. I wish you luck on getting the little tramp away from your friend but I don't think you'll need it," Rory smiled when she sank another ball.

"I won't little Miss Goody Goody Muffin Face won't know what hit her."

Rory laughed looking at the blonde, "Goody Goody Muffin Face man that's good."

Carly laughed, "Well I can already see her, you see I know his type, she'll be petite, with big eyes and long dark hair, she probably looks a lot like you just without the attitude.

"Hey I don't have a muffin face," Rory retorted glaring at her.

Carly studied her, "No you don't but you do look awfully familiar to me, have we met?"

Rory's eyes widened, it was going so well, "I get that a lot." Especially in this town, "I guess I just have one of those faces." She finished with a smile, hoping the blonde would let it go.

Carly shrugged, it would come to her eventually, "No you don't have a muffin face, she will and those big eyes will bat up at him all the while crying help me Jason, save me from the wicked witch Jason," Carly finished with a laugh, "And Jason being the sweetie that he is won't realize she is playing him."

Rory's cue stick slipped and the cue scraped the white ball sending it a few inches down the table, when she heard the name Jason.

"Chalk helps." Carly offered dryly bending over the table to make a shot.

Rory studied the blonde whom she now knew was Carly Corinthos. She was very pretty, and formidable like Rory knew she would be. She was also going to be pissed off when she realized whom she was playing pool with, Rory smiled at that thought.

"Damn." Carly muttered when she missed, she needed to play more often she was out of practice.

"Carly can I see your cue for a minute?" Rory asked holding her hand out for the stick.

"Sure." Carly handed her the stick, watching the woman lean it against the wall behind her, "Wait how do you know my name, have we met?"

Good now that's out of reach, Rory turned to answer Carly's question. "No we have never met Carly, although I feel like I know you, and it is obvious that you do not know me. I'm Rory Nichols, a.k.a. Goody Goody Muffin Face." Rory offered her hand with a smile.

"What?" Carly exclaimed.


	11. When Blondie met Shorty

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 10

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~Penthouse~

"It's Jason," Johnny said opening the door.

Sonny waved him in, "Just make it happen Alexis, I need those permits, by tomorrow."

Alexis Davis gathered her papers and began to put them in her briefcase, "Sonny that will cost you double. You're not exactly someone the town council likes to deal with you know."

"Alexis isn't that what I pay you all this money for, to work miracles?" Sonny shot back, smiling at her his dimples flashing.

Alexis sighed pulling off her glasses to pinch her nose, "Miracles don't happen everyday, Sonny, and if they did they wouldn't be called miracles."

With that Alexis picked up her coat and headed for the door pausing in front of Jason, "It's good to see you Jason, you have no need of me yet I hope?" she asked.

"Not yet," he said with a smirk, "but the day's not over yet."

Alexis glared at him and Sonny who just smiled back, "Why do I even try? If you call me out of bed again, my rate doubles."

"You have rates in bed?" Sonny teased.

"Corinthos." Alexis shook her head before moving towards the door and opening it, "One day I might not show up when you call at all."

"Yes you will, you like the thrills to much. Give my love to your husband," Sonny said with a grin.

Alexis glared at him, "Next time someone wants to shoot him, let them." She told Johnny brushing past him.

"Tomorrow Alexis," Sonny called after her before turning to face Jason.

Jason shook his head, some things never changed, "You want to finish our talk now?"

Sonny nodded, moving to the bar fixing a scotch for himself, and a water for Jason.

"So why is it you want me here, instead of Puerto Rico where the trouble is?"

"We got rats in Puerto Rico, but their smarter than Carlos was, I'm not sure how many we have down there. This time when we deal with them I want no mistakes, I don't want anyone slipping through the cracks." Sonny answered walking to the couch to sit down.

Jason followed, sitting as well, "Makes sense."

"I rushed things last time, when I found out Carlos was working with Sorel, I just wanted it over, and I wanted him gone. That's why I went to Puerto Rico, to end it once and for all. I should have listened to you then and waited a little while." Sonny brooded into his glass.

Jason kept quiet waiting for his friend to continue. He knew that Sonny had been on edge last December in Puerto Rico, it had been obvious.

"But when we got those threats against Carly, and with everything I was doing to keep Zander alive to testify against Sorel, when I found out about Carlos, I was so angry I just wanted it over. I reacted, instead of thinking it through like I should have." Sonny said finally.

"Sonny, you were always careful with Carlos, you never really trusted him, and you kept a tight rein on him, Sorel just slipped in and found Carlos's weak spot, his greed. Carlos betrayed you, you just did what you had to do."

Sonny set his glass down with a slam, "I should have waited to find out who was in it with Carlos, and if I had we wouldn't have this problem now."

"Sonny we did a clean sweep when we took Carlos, most of his lieutenants were taken out as well; and you know as well as I do that there will always be someone in the organization who wants more." Jason said quietly.

"Well we missed someone, I should have waited, but it's too late now, we missed someone and their trying to step into Carlos's shoes."

"Do you know who?"

"Yeah, it's Rico, but this time, I'm going to make sure I get everyone who's with Rico. I'm not going to move on him until I know everything about everyone down there. When I remove Rico, I want to make sure that if, no when someone tries this again, they will have to start from scratch," Sonny got to his feet and began to prowl the room.

While Jason waited for Sonny to continue he got up and moved to the window to look out at the setting skyline of Port Charles. He heard Sonny take a seat at the table with a sigh, before he continued, "I almost got killed, in Puerto Rico, I almost got you killed, hell the only reason were still alive is because of Rory, I am not going to let that happen again."

Jason turned and sat down at the table, "My choice," was all he said, he knew Sonny had made some mistakes, in Puerto Rico, but there was no use in talking about them now.

Sonny looked up and studied his friend for a long time before continuing, "I want you here, because I want Rico and all those little bastards to know exactly where you are. I want them to think that you are setting up shop here again in Port Charles, I don't want them to worry about you going anywhere near Puerto Rico."

Sonny broke off and studied the table before beginning quietly, "I want them to get cocky, because that is when they will make their mistakes. You're a ghost man, as long as Rico has no idea where you are, he's been careful, hell I only got confirmation that it was Rico last week. But one thing about the Carlos and Rico's in the world, is that their greedy and that greed will make them stupid," Sonny looked up then into Jason's expressionless face, "I want them stupid, I want to know who else is stupid," Sonny's eyes lit then in anger, "And then I want them gone."

Jason nodded, "That will work, the word will get out that I'm here, it may take a little time, but your right Rico will mess up, is your source reliable?"

Sonny smiled slyly before taking a drink, "Oh yes, and their loyal to me."

Jason was curious but he let it alone, Sonny would tell him when he was ready, "So how loud do you want me to be? You want me to run into Taggert?"

Sonny snorted, "No even I wouldn't ask you for that Jason, although Taggert will be all over you soon enough, with his usual crap, he's still upset that you found Emily and not him."

Jason just shrugged, Taggert didn't really bother him, although he really didn't want to be arrested again. To tell the truth, he always liked goading Taggart, he was so easy to get riled.

"I think you should move back in your penthouse." Sonny said moving to refill his drink, "I also think that Rory being here with you will really be an asset."

"What does Rory have to do with this?" he asked frowning.

"Well your traveling with a woman, living with a woman, it gives an air of permanence to anyone looking."

Jason got up and walked over to Sonny, "I don't want people looking, that's not why she is here."

"Jason I know that, I know that the last thing on your mind when you are with her is business. But think about it, as long as Rory is here, it follows that you will be here too. She's not from here, she has no family here, and so the only reason she has to be here is if you're with her. So as long as she is here, no one will be looking for you anywhere else. This will help us buy some time when we need to make our move." Sonny said rubbing his hand over his chin.

Jason nodded slowly, he could see the sense in that, he didn't like it but he could see that it made sense, but still, "I don't think we need to move into the penthouse."

Sonny focused on Jason with a sigh, "Jason I want to present an illusion for Rico and the others. I want them to believe you're here for good. Now let's say your Rico, he finds out that Jason Morgan is back in Port Charles, with a woman, yet while his very spacious and empty penthouse is waiting for him, he is staying in a room over a bar. Now if you're Rico what does that tell you?"

"That I'm only visiting," Jason answered shortly, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, before crossing to pick up his water.

"Exactly, besides Jakes is a bit small for two, I bet Rory would love the penthouse," Sonny said with a smile, and he would love to get to know the woman who had his best friend turned around.

"I don't know about that, Rory is kind of unpredictable."

That was just the opportunity Sonny had been waiting for, "She is?"

"Yes," Jason answered with a smile as he thought about her, the smile softened his whole expression. He caught Sonny's smirk out of the corner of his eye and quickly ordered his thoughts, "Carly won't like it."

"Wrong, Carly would love having you across the hall, so would Michael."

Jason sucked in a breath at the mention of Michael's name, it still hurt sometimes, no a lot of the time, that he couldn't see Michael like he used to. He had accepted the fact that he was no longer Michael's father, and that Sonny was raising him like his own, but it still hurt. The pain was less than it had been, but he knew it would always be there. The real reason it was easing at all was because he knew that Sonny and Carly were raising him, Michael was going to have a good life because of that.

"How is Michael?" he asked quietly.

"He's the best, pre-school has been great for him," Sonny answered studying his friend. It was still hard to believe sometimes what Jason had done for him.

When Jason had tracked the arsonist down and got the information to get Carly and Michael away from the Quartermaines' he had given it to Sonny without hesitation. Jason could have used the material himself and got them out, but he gave it over to Sonny without a thought.

Sonny shook his head at that thought, he knew that Jason would never have gotten back together with Carly, but he could have been a father to Michael again. Instead, Jason had given him Michael to raise, he still couldn't believe it. One of his biggest fears was that he might let Jason down.

"That's good, I'm glad that Michael's happy," Jason said pulling Sonny out of his thoughts, "but while Carly might like me living across the hall, she won't like Rory living there with me."

"Yeah, I heard that Carly knows," seeing Jason's glance he went on, "she came here, I guess after leaving you at Jakes?"

Jason took a swallow of water, "Yeah she dropped by unexpectedly, I knew it was only a matter of time."

"And?"

"Rory was in the shower so Carly never saw her but she saw enough, well enough for Carly to jump to the conclusion that it was Robin in the shower."

"Robin," now Sonny was surprised, "How, why… oh never mind, it's Carly."

"Anyway I calmed her down and got her out the door before Rory came out."

"Jason you know it's only a matter of time."

"Yes," Jason said wearily, moving back to lean against the table, "Is it wrong to want to keep it quiet for a little while longer?"

Sonny laughed then and walked over to the table, "No, but this is Carly were talking about, and from what I've seen of Rory, quiet is going to be the last thing you get."

"I know," Jason, said pinching his nose, "I've already warned Rory about Carly."

"Don't you think you should have warned Carly about Rory?" Sonny asked.

Jason glanced over at him and waited.

"When Carly was here she was angry of course, but mainly she was hurt because you hadn't told her yourself. She feels like you deliberately kept her in the dark, and that hurt her."

Jason sighed, "I didn't want to hurt her, it's just we don't talk that much when I'm away, and when we do I mostly listen to her, it's kind of hard to talk over Carly."

"How long have you been with Rory?"

"Almost 11 months," Jason saw the look Sonny directed at him and continued, "Yes I could have mentioned it last summer, but there were so many other things happening, Emily, the charges against you, the wedding, it wasn't the right time to mention Rory. I didn't want to hurt her, she was already desperate enough, being scared about her feelings for you, and yours for her," Jason shrugged, "she wouldn't have been able to handle another change just then."

"I know where your coming from Jason, but all Carly knows is you have this major change happening in your life and you didn't tell her."

Jason pushed off from the table and crossed back to the window, "I'll talk to her about it and explain, is she going to be home soon?"

"She left right before you got here, I'll told her she could wait and see you, but she said she had something to do and tore out of here…" Sonny trailed off then. Jason turned to look at him, brown eyes met blue ones and one word crossed both of their minds, "Shit."

Jason was already moving towards the door, Sonny grabbed his coat to follow, "You know Carly won't hurt her."

"It's not Rory I'm worried about." Jason replied punching the down button on the elevator, "You saw Lucky Spencer today right?"

"Yes, I was going to talk to you about that."

Jason waved his words off, "Did he have bruises on his face?"

"Yes."

"Well Rory did that, she's not exactly." He paused searching for the right word, "Timid."

Curiosity aroused, Sonny watched a suddenly active Jason pound on the elevator call button again, and fidget in front of the doors, "How did you two meet?"

Sonny's words triggered Jason's memory.

__

"Are you trying to tell me," Rory rubbed her finger lightly down his chest and then back up, "That my hand was in your pants and you never even knew it?" Her voice was pitched loud and clear and carried throughout the bar, stilling conversation.

"I'm sure that I've never been accused of that before," She finished her hands on her hips, and she looked up at him with a mocking smile, laughter dancing in her eyes. Laughter erupted around them in the bar, but Jason didn't notice he was too busy looking in her eyes.

"Jason?" Sonny's voice prompted him.

"She," he broke off then tried again, "I" he paused again, "We met." Jason said finally, walking into the elevator followed by an openly amused Sonny.

Johnny got on the car after his two bosses and carefully kept his face expressionless, as he glanced at a smiling Sonny and a glowering Jason. Oh to be a fly on the wall when they met, Johnny thought with a smile when he turned to face the doors, to be a fly on the wall.

****

~Jakes~

"What did you say?" Carly asked surely she couldn't have heard her right.

"I said my name is Rory Nichols," Rory repeated with a smile, this could be fun.

"No you can't be Miss Priss," Carly shook her head, no way was this girl Rory, she liked her, so she couldn't be Rory.

"Well if your looking for the woman who is in town with Jason Morgan, then you've found her. If your looking for a person with a saint complex, try Paris," Oh yes, Rory thought this is definitely fun.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me? What kind of game were you playing," Carly yelled, temper spiking.

"No game, I didn't know who you were until you mentioned Jason's name," Rory answered with a shrug.

"Right, sure you didn't," Carly answered mockingly, "listen you little twit, I don't know what kind of game you were playing, but it was a mistake."

"Carly get a grip," Rory interrupted, "I didn't know you were talking about me. Man how could I? I've been called lot's of things before, bitch, demon seed, witch, among countless others we don't need to go into, but I have never been referred to as a Goody Goody Muffin Face, so forgive me if I got lost."

Carly shook her head trying to clear it, this was not going the way it was supposed to, somewhere she had lost the edge. The thought of that alone sent Carly off, "You knew my name."

"Yeah, after you said Jason's name. How was I supposed to know that you weren't just another easy mark, a rich blonde who was down here slumming at Jakes?

Easy mark, the words burned through Carly's brain, "Jason has pictures of us, you little ingrate."

"Yes of Michael. Which brings me to another point, I met A.J. earlier, and now I've had a good look at you, and I'm confused. How in the hell did you to produce a cute little red-headed kid?" Rory paused studying her, "really the kid looks nothing like the either one of you."

"Well you must be confused a lot shrimp, so allow me to clear some things up for you?" Carly said advancing on her.

Shrimp, now Rory's temper sizzled, Carly was treading on thin ice, "Look Carly, all I knew about you was you were a crazy blonde, who knew you were a fake blonde? Time for a touch up honey your roots are showing." Rory said sweetly.

Carly sucked in a breath to retort, moving in closer to Rory, who moved in as well.

"Ladies, is everything okay over there?" Jake called from the bar.

"Shut up!" Carly and Rory yelled at the same time, never taking their eyes off of each other.

Jake shrugged and turned to Gus, who was at the bar with her, "Hey I'll put $20 on Rory, how about you?"

"Which one's Rory?" Gus asked studying the two women.

"The brunette."

"You're on, the blonde will rip her apart." With the wager made, both turned around to enjoy the show.

"So how do you want to settle this, pool cues at 10 paces," Rory asked, "or maybe just a good old fashioned knock down and drag out fight."

Carly focused on Rory's eyes and saw the humor in them mixed with anticipation. Damn she thought someone who likes to fight as much as I do, she couldn't help but me amused.

"I don't think that's going to be necessary," Carly said speaking icily to stem her amusement, "as long as you listen to me."

"Listen to you? Lady all I've done is listen to you, and you know what I've found out? You don't have a friggin clue."

"Now wait a minute."

"No, I was here minding my own business, when I see a mark come into the room," Rory turned slightly to look at Carly, "here's a hint the marks you," she said before beginning to pace, "I thought here's a chance to make some easy money, no big deal. Then you start talking, you go on and on about some little viper out to trap your best friend, I thought it was funny, to tell you the truth I still do. You obviously have no clue about me or Jason, if you think the he would ever fall for someone like that again."

Carly was pissed and amused, Rory looked like she was pacing her way to China, as she carried on. Wait a minute she wasn't supposed to be amused, she told herself so she glared at Rory, who had finally landed in front of her. "First off you never would have beaten me, secondly…"

"Hold it Blondie." Rory said picking up her cue and crossing to the table, "2 ball right corner." She called before sinking the shot. She walked to the other side of the table, "8 ball in the side," She rammed the stick into the ball sending it flying into the pocket in front of Carly. She looked up at Carly and couldn't help but gloat, "Ding, that's the end of round one," she said with a sly smile, watching Carly's glower get more and more pronounced. 


	12. You can't like me. Snap out of it.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 11

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~L&B~

Emily hesitated outside of L&B she hated to disturb him at work, she knew she had been doing that a lot lately, but she had to talk to him and she really couldn't handle Gia right now. Emily pushed the door open, walked in and down the stairs scanning the empty room.

Sighing Emily walked to the couch and sat down, maybe it was for the best, she had been relying on Nikolas a lot lately. She didn't want to depend on him too much it seems whenever she did that to someone she lost them. Her mother, the Q's though they loved her, they didn't take the time to really get to know her a lot of the time, Matt, Elizabeth, Jason because he wasn't going to stay and Lucky. Lucky was her oldest friend, yet ever since the explosion he had changed so much, that sometimes it was hard for her to recognize him, much less talk to him.

So that left Nikolas, she knew that Gia hated the fact they spent so much time together, for that matter so did Zander, but they had been friends for so long, it was natural that the two remaining four musketeers would be close. But she couldn't keep running to Nikolas either, Emily decided, getting to her feet and moving back to the door. She was reaching for the door handle when it opened on it's own and Nikolas entered the building. His face broke out into a smile when he saw Emily.

"Hey Em, were you waiting long?" He asked shrugging out of his coat and moving over to the desk, to drop off his case, before heading to the couch.

Emily stood there on the stairs torn, a part of her wanted to stay the other part was screaming at her to leave, while she could. Her feelings for Nikolas had always been extreme, she had, had a huge crush on him from the time she had met him. He had considered her a friend at most, and during some really awful moments a surrogate sister. Then when she had been on drugs, she knew she had kissed him, and he had rebuffed, her gently of course, but even as high as she was, it had still hurt. She thought he had moved just into friend mode, and then they had gotten closer during the whole Tom Baker blackmail mess, and her crush had returned stronger than ever. Catching him with Katherine Bell on her birthday did a pretty good job of opening her eyes though. Since then she considered him a friend, first she had Juan, then Zander and he had Gia now. But lately it seemed like her feelings for him were changing yet again, and she couldn't help but think that it was going to lead to disaster for her once again. She wished he would move back into just a friend mode, she really needed to talk to him, especially now.

"Emily." Nikolas said, walking back to her and holding out his hand.

She shrugged and took his hand, only to drop it immediately when a shudder ran through her at the contact. Get a grip, she ordered herself, as she moved past him, giving him a wide berth, this is Nikolas, before collapsing on the couch. "Sorry Nikolas it's been a strange day."

Nikolas followed her and sat down on the table in front of her, "I know." He said studying her, "Are you okay?"

"Yes." She said shrugging out of her coat, so she wouldn't have to look him in the eye.

Nikolas reached out, took her hand and tugged on it until she focused on him, "You can talk to me Emily." He said softly his eyes searching hers, "Please talk to me."

"Not about this." She answered softly and so quickly that he barely heard her.

"Emily, please talk to me. I will just sit here and listen, please tell me what is going on." He said picking up her other hand, keeping both wrapped inside of his, leaning towards her.

She studied him and thought about it, maybe she could tell him, he already knew all the other bad things about her and liked her anyway, maybe he would understand this too, "I was stupid Nikolas," she began only to stop as the phone rang.

He groaned and bowed his head, she was finally willing to talk to him and the blasted phone rings. He got up to answer the phone, keeping his eyes on her, he could already see her building a wall between them again, with a sigh he picked up the receiver, "L&B."

****

~Jakes~

"You know if they use pool cues, the blonde will murder your Rory, she's got a much longer reach." Gus told Jake while he studied the women at the pool table.

Jake glanced at Gus, "Yeah, but my moneys still on Rory, she's tricky, and I bet if she had to, she would have pretty good aim if she had to use those balls on the table."

"That's true." Gus nodded turning back to the show.

Carly stared at Rory in shock; no one had spoken to her like that in years. No one really even challenged her anymore. Sonny and her argued and yelled a lot, and Jason listened to her and reeled her in before she got to crazy, but no one had attacked her at this level in years. Well except for A.J. but he didn't count, the fact that he was alive was enough for her to hate him. The way Rory was talking to her now, cutting through all the bullshit and challenging her anyway, reminded her of the real Carly Roberts her late friend. Carly shifted uncomfortable with that realization and quickly went on the attack, "I am not playing around with you little girl."

"Oh and what does it look like I am doing? Playing who wants to be a millionaire? Trust me Blondie you would not be my phone a friend. I'm just trying to set some facts on the table, so the light bulb will go on in your head and you will finally see the truth," Rory retorted laying the pool cue on the table between them.

"Oh and what facts would those be shorty?" Carly asked with a sneer.

"Well three come to mind off the top of my head, One, you can bitch, scheme, moan or groan all you want, but I am not going anywhere unless it is with Jason or he tells me to go," Rory paused and walked around the front of the table to look at Carly then, by the anger visible in Carly's eyes she knew Carly had heard her.

"Two, you don't have to like me, you don't even have to be nice to me," Rory broke off and began to pace again, gesturing with her hands, "in fact I think it's better that you aren't nice to me. I mean I rarely meet a person who can keep up with me, at least partially, in the insult hurling division and I would hate to lose that. Right now the only person who comes close is Jason and he doesn't insult, he just, just…" She broke off then and paused by Carly, trying to think of the best way to describe Jason.

"He just listens, and then when you think he is fully on your side, or he has fallen asleep with his eyes open, he opens his mouth and let's out this perfect zinger that cuts everything you had spent the last 10 minutes telling him to shreds; because it cuts through all the crap to the truth, and you feel like such and idiot," Carly finished for her leaning against the pool table.

Rory leaned back against the pool table beside her, "I really hate it when he does that. That damn memory of his, and the way he sees everything, you can't get away with anything with him. That really sucks sometimes."

"Tell me about it and then you have to talk and talk, digging yourself in deeper and deeper, because he just sits there and stares at you with those eyes," Carly thought as she crossed her arms in front of her, "Hell even if you do try to lie, he sees through you before you close your mouth," she finished on a disgusted sigh.

"I know, sometimes I just want to hit him," Rory agreed feeling at ease with Carly as they discussed Jason's most annoying habits.

Both women were silent then, each remembering their individual run-ins with Jason's personality quirks.

Rory shifted suddenly, what the hell was that? It was almost like they were getting along.

Carly pushed away from the table, that was weird, "You said there were three facts, what's the third?" she asked sharply.

Rory sighed in relief, grateful that Carly wasn't going to mention the twilight zone effect of the last couple of minutes, "Oh I thought that was obvious even for you Carly," Rory answered sweetly.

Carly turned on her with a glare, and to think for a moment she had actually liked the little tramp.

"I play pool, a hell of a lot better than you," Rory said with a cheeky smile.

"You do not, you just had a lucky shot. Besides the only way you were in position for that shot was because you were trying to distract me. That was not a real game." Carly retorted.

"Oh please Blondie, I took it easy on you and I still cleaned your clock."

"How the hell do you think that shorty? It seems to me there is only one stripe on the table, so you must not know the meaning of that saying, sweetie." Carly said moving back to the table.

Rory grinned, "Well sweetie, I told you we would play slop rules, but no you didn't want that. But you see I have the need to be challenged, and quite frankly you didn't look like you would present a challenge, and I hated to just take your money."

"As if you could." Carly interrupted.

Rory went on as if Carly had never spoken, "So I set a challenge for myself."

"Is there a point to this nonsense or are you just rambling to make your quota of words for the day?"

"Well I decided to play left handed." Rory replied looking Carly in the eye, "Only the thing is, I'm not left-handed, in fact that is only the 5th complete game I have ever played left handed. See other times I started to do that in a game, I always had to shift back to my right hand when they started to challenge me, well that didn't happen in this case." She grinned recklessly, when Carly began to glower at her again, what the hell she though let's twist the knife a little. "So sweetie, you really should accept your weaknesses, it helps you from looking like such an ass." She finished and took a step back from the table to study Carly, waiting for the explosion, man this was fun.

An ass, the words echoed through Carly's mind, she let out a little noise like a scream, she walked up to Rory it was time to end this once and for all.

****

~L&B~

By the time Nikolas had gotten off the phone, Emily had moved to a chair and was flipping through a magazine; he knew that any opportunity to finish their conversation had been lost. "Sorry about that, you were saying Emily?" He asked crossing to sit on the couch, it was worth a shot.

"Nothing really, I just came here to talk to you about Lucky, I saw him earlier in the park."

He sighed in disappointment knowing she was lying, "How was he?"

"Good and bad." She replied slowly, "Nikolas wait until you see him, it's like he's back from wherever he has been these last two years. He walks different, he talks different, he carries himself differently, if it wasn't for that stupid blonde dye job in his hair, you would swear that you were talking to the real Lucky Spencer; not the robot we have been dealing with recently. It seems like I have my oldest friend back, and I should be ecstatic and on one level I am, but…" She trailed off.

"But?" He prompted, though he knew what she was going to say.

"The only reason that he is back with us is because he is convinced that Rory is Elizabeth and she is going to return to him."

"I had hoped that he might have forgotten that part of last night." He said rubbing his hand over his eyes. He missed his brother all the time, and would give anything to have him back, but not this, not when it was obvious that nothing but pain could come out of this new found belief.

"No he is convinced that Rory is Elizabeth and that all he has to do is to make her remember." She ran her hand through her hair and she shook her head looking at Nikolas, "It was so great to talk to him, I didn't know how much I had missed him, until I saw him today with that familiar spark in his eyes." She paused again, "But I know my brother, and I spent some time with Rory myself this morning, she doesn't act like Elizabeth, actually she reminds me a lot of…." She stopped and looked at Nikolas, "Lizzie."

"I know, I hadn't heard her say my name in that tone of voice for quite a while, it was strange," He agreed.

"I like her though." She said, "As long as I don't have to look at her that much." Nikolas smiled then and Emily had to wrench her mind back onto the conversation before she could continue. "It's just that I am afraid that once he realizes it is not her, we are going to lose him again and if that happens we may not get him back." She finished on a sigh and leaned back against the chair.

"I know, I don't know how to get through to him, I'm afraid if I push to hard he will cut me out of his life like he has his parents." He shrugged, "So I just keep picking him up, and hoping he'll snap out of it."

"Me too. God isn't this depressing, I just wanted to give you the heads up on Lucky." Emily said slipping on her coat.

"Thanks, do you know where Lucky was going?" Nikolas asked rising with her.

"Unfortunately yes, Jason and Rory went by on his motorcycle and Lucky went after them, I think they were heading to Kellys, I hope he doesn't start another fight."

"Me too." He grimaced moving his sore shoulder slightly, "I don't think I could take it."

Emily grinned, "Oh what happened Nikolas are you a little sore today?"

"No." He said immediately, locking his back into ramrod straight position.

"Oh poor prince," She teased, "Did you get a royal boo boo on your…"

"Emily!" 

"No? Where does it hurt then?" She asked while she playfully began to check him for injuries, "Oh I know it was your ego, watch out those ego blows can be fatal" she said with a laugh.

Nikolas grabbed her hands off of his sore shoulder and twisted a laughing Emily into him, by bringing her hands to rest behind her back, her body made contact with his and the laughter died immediately.

She stared up into his warm dark eyes, that were just inches from her face and wondered what it would be like to kiss him when she wasn't high, or it wasn't part of a trick.

All he would have to do was to lean forward and he would finally be able to kiss her sweetness, like he had longed to do for so long now.

Who made the first move was unclear, but their mouths were inches from each other when a crash sounded from the back room. The two sprang apart quickly, he let her go so suddenly she fell back into the chair.

"Emily, I didn't know you were here," Ned Ashton said walking into the room, oblivious to the tension in it.

"Uhhm, yeah, I came by to see Nikolas, and I have to go now," Emily answered quickly getting to her feet, to cross to her cousin, looking everywhere but at Nikolas. "Bye Ned," she said giving her cousin a hug, before moving towards the door.

"Emily." Nikolas said watching her from the same place by the chair.

"Bye Nikolas, I'll talk to you soon, I have to meet Zander now." Emily said desperately not looking at him, she opened the door and walked out, she finally took a deep breath and leaned on the door.

What in the heck was that? She wondered trying to control her still racing heart, for a minute it had seemed like Nikolas was going to kiss her.

"No." She shook her head, I must have imagined it, he was being nice and I misread the entire situation. I mean he let go of me so fast I fell, he didn't want to kiss me, she thought pushing off the door to walk away. Besides he has Gia, and she is "Beautiful." She said with a groan, what would he see in me? She wondered to herself walking towards the bus stop.

"Nothing." She answered herself. Besides she had Zander didn't she? She was in love with Zander, so it would have been a colossal mistake if they had kissed. So let it go, she ordered herself, but she couldn't seem to stop herself from looking back at L&B as she walked away.

Nikolas stared after Emily long after she had closed the door, Ned's words nothing but a buzzing hum in his ears. Where had that come from, he wondered, the sudden intense desire to kiss her. The need had come out of nowhere, he thought looking down at the chair, and the scarf she had left behind in her haste to get away.

Well not nowhere he admitted walking past an openly staring Ned to sit as his desk with a sigh, it was time for the truth, he had thought about kissing Emily before, and a lot more frequently lately.

"Well that has just got to stop!" Nikolas said out loud suddenly to a clueless Ned, who threw up his hands and went back into the backroom.

She is my best friend and I am not going to wreck that friendship for anything, besides he had Gia in his life. Gia was an amazing, wonderful, beautiful woman, why would he even look at another woman. He wouldn't, he had everything already, Nikolas thought staring at her scarf.

****

~Jakes~

"What did you call me?" Carly asked staring down at Rory.

Damn'it did the woman have to be so tall, Rory thought with a curse, and of course she has to wear high heels too, "I think you heard me, unless all those chemicals on your head fried your brain," Rory knew it was a petty slam but she hated that Carly had the height advantage on her.

Carly's hand dropped to the table and closed over the lone stripe on the table, as she considered her options. She could just hit Rory and end this ridiculous conversation once and for all. She had to admit the thought was tempting. She focused on Rory whose expression had changed to a mocking smile, as if she knew what she was considering and was daring her to do it.

Carly relaxed her hand, letting go of the ball, she would be damned if she resorted to a physical attack first. She crossed her arms over her chest and studied that now wary Rory with a smile, "Well you make awfully big claims, for a little pipsqueak who looks like she is still in high school. Are you even old enough to be in here shorty?"

Rory's eyes sparked at that, her brain tried to step in then be calm she ordered herself, she is trying to provoke you to regain the edge, don't blow it, "Well we can't all be glamazons who are pushing 30," so much for staying in control.

"30." Carly sputtered, "30! God you are as stupid as you look." She stopped then that nagging feeling coming back to her, "And just who in the hell do you look like anyway?"

Man not now, Rory thought desperately, got to get her off track, "Well they senility is the first problem for the mature person. And no Carly we have never met."

"Hey beautiful, can I buy you a drink?" a man's voice interrupted what would have been a blistering retort from Carly.

Both women turned to glare at the newcomer, a man in his 40's who was obviously drunk.

Carly sized him up and dismissed him in an instant, "Rory your date's here," she said sweetly.

"Bite me." Rory retorted.

"Where?" The drunk asked, he didn't care which woman he got he just knew he was going to get lucky with one of them.

"Oh Barry it's you I didn't recognize you with your clothes on," Rory began then with a dazzling smile for the drunk.

"Barry whose…" he trailed off as he tried to think, "Right I'm Barry."

"Good this saves me a phone call, I got those test results back, and it is confirmed as Herpes Simplex 3, you best get yourself over to the clinic and get tested. Once you have it for sure, we can play again, only this time Barry you need to bring the sheep."

"Test……Herpes……..sh-sheep?" The drunk gave a start then, "You know I really got to go," He said backing away from Rory.

"Barry don't lose my number now," Rory called after him, she watched him run into the doorframe in his haste to get away from her.

"Was it something I said?" Rory asked turning back to Carly.

Carly laughed she couldn't help it, my god this woman was crazier than she was. "I don't want to like you," she said when she caught her breath.

"Damn'it" Rory cried, "You can't like me, I won't allow it." and before Carly had a chance to respond Rory was off and running.

"What is it with this bassackwards town? Most of the people I have met here seem to think I am the second coming of some perfect princess, a freaking ghost, and now there's you." She paused in her pacing to glare at Carly, "You are the one person I knew I was going to have a problem with, and now you say you like me, jeez." She started pacing again, "Well I won't have it. I have been looking forward to fighting with you, so just snap out of it. No more bad dye jobs for you it is effecting your brain."

"I didn't say I liked you, I said I didn't want to like you," Carly interrupted, "Trust me I'm sure that won't happen, you are such an insane little twit, I couldn't like you."

"Good, that's better."

"Wait a minute, what ghost are you talking about?" Carly asked then.

"Figure it out Carly, the way your thought processes work it should only take you about 5 years or so," Rory answered swiftly, she was not going to mention the whole Webber thing, with Carly, to much ammunition.

"What the hell does Jason see in you? Your nothing but a wasp tongued viper."

"And you are nothing but a wanna be blonde, demolition crew and he's kept you around for how long now? Anyway do not bring Jason into this, this is between you and me Blondie."

"What do you mean?" Carly asked, trying to follow this chick was a killer. Man and people accuse me of talking too much.

"I mean if you have a problem with me, take it up with me. Don't go running to Jason about it, batting your big brown eyes up at him, and saying please save me from the wicked witch," Rory imitated Carly's words to a tee including the annoying sing song voice she had originally used.

"Witch."

"Exactly, that's what you need to do, Carly confront me, leave Jason out of it," Rory replied nodding her head, deliberately misreading Carly's latest outburst.

"I don't like you." Carly began.

"Good I got enough friends."

"Jesus shorty do you have an off switch?" Carly asked glaring at her, "But I won't say anything to Jason _yet_. But I will be watching you."

"I had no doubt about that Carly."

"If you hurt him in anyway," Carly began moving until she stood toe to toe with Rory, "You won't know what hit you." She threatened just as Jason, Sonny and Johnny walked into the bar. "You understand me shorty?"

"Crystal clear, Blondie, crystal. I got no problem with that as long as you understand one thing as well," Rory paused and when she continued her voice was low and strong, all amusement gone, "If you try to wreck him again, I will destroy you." Rory said holding up her hand to stop Jason and the other's approach, "Do you understand that Carly?"

Carly stared at her hard, "Crystal." She said with a sneer and a warning, "This isn't over, not by a long shot."

"Why Carly I would be disappointed if you thought it was," Rory retorted smiling recklessly at her before turning to face the men.

"Hey baby." Carly said with a smile walking over to Sonny to hug him, "What brings you here? Slumming?"

Rory smiled at Carly's words, before looking up at Jason who had moved beside her, "You're here early."

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly.

"Of course she's okay, and I'm fine too, jeez Jason what did you expect pool cues at 10 paces," Carly called out.

Rory snorted when she heard Carly use her own words, she quickly schooled her features before picking up the thread that Carly tossed and went on the attack, "What you were expecting to see a bloodbath? Sorry Carly here just had her nails done, and I hate to give the house a part of the take."

Jason sighed she wasn't going to tell him.

Rory's eyes flicked over to the others, "Hey Mr. Johnny, long time no see," she said her eyes locked on his waiting.

"Good to see you again…Rory," Johnny murmured, noticing Carly's jerk of reaction to that, he quickly stepped back to the bar, he didn't get paid enough to get in between Carly and Rory.

"Chicken," Rory called after him as if she had read his mind, the humor evident in her voice, and the smile on her face, the humor died when she looked at Sonny. "Sonny," she said coolly, bringing the temperature in the room several degrees.

Sonny sighed, yes it looked like he had hurt her this morning, he wanted to apologize and explain, but he didn't know how Carly would react. It was strange though, his wife didn't really seem angry, more amused than angry, he couldn't help but wonder what Rory had done to her.

"Carly can I talk to you a minute?" Jason asked.

"Sure Jase." Carly said kissing Sonny's cheek before crossing over to a table on the far side of the room.

Jason kept his eyes on Rory, and when he saw her smile and nod, he gave her hand a quick squeeze before moving over to Carly.

Rory's smile faded when she found herself alone with Sonny, "Excuse me," she said brushing by him towards the bar, before he had a chance to open his mouth.

"Hey Jake can I get another soda? It's on my friend here," she said resting her hand on Gus's shoulder.

"What?" he asked.

"Well you were betting against me, big mistake, so the drink is on your dime." Rory pinched the man's cheek.

Gus colored but spoke anyway, "I still bet the blonde would have taken you."

"Lose a lot of money betting don't you?"

"Yes," Gus answered quickly before the double meaning of her words had sunk in. Both Jake and Johnny let out a laugh at that, Johnny's quickly died as Sonny approached the bar.

"Rory can I talk to you?" he asked.

"I'm listening." Rory answered from her perch at the bar, keeping her back to him.

Sonny groaned and pinched his nose hard with his fingers, "Please."

Rory sighed and picked up her drink and moved to a table, near the bar, she sat her eyes scanning the room, ignoring Sonny, "So talk."

"I owe you a couple of apologies, one for this morning and…"

"No problem." Rory said quickly cutting him off and began to rise.

"Sit Down!" Sonny said sharply, groaning again when he saw the glare Rory leveled at him as she kept rising, "Please let me finish." He tried again softening his words with a smile.

Rory shrugged and sat down, "I'm listening."

"I hurt you this morning and I'm sorry about that, I just wasn't prepared for the resemblance."

"Sonny you have met me before, so how could this so-called resemblance just pop-up now?"

"Rory we didn't meet under the best of circumstances, and you were in a disguise when I did." Sonny tried to explain.

"And how would you know?" Rory said quietly her eyes flicking over him, "You were to busy screaming at me to pay attention to how I looked." 

"Well almost being executed tends to put someone in a foul mood, sorry," Sonny said flippantly, trying to lighten the mood, he failed miserably.

****

~Table~

"Are you okay Carly?" Jason asked sitting down.

"Yeah, what did you think your little girlfriend was going to take a piece out of me? As if she could."

"No I am asking if you're okay, I know I hurt you."

Her eyes locked on his and were brutally honest with him, "Yes you did Jason, and I'm just trying to figure out why you didn't tell me. I mean were you ever planning on telling me, or did I just not count with you?" She asked slowly.

"Of course I was going to tell you, you're my friend, my family, you know I would tell you." He replied rubbing his neck.

"Really when?" She asked looking at him and letting the hurt show in her eyes and face, "Am I really that bad that you felt the need to hide such an important part of your life from me?"

"No. You know you matter to me." He said sharply.

"Then why?" The words came out as a plea.

Sighing heavily Jason tried to explain, "First of all, I wasn't even in town when Rory and I got together, and we weren't speaking that much anyway."

"When was this?"

"Almost 11 months ago," Carly sucked in a breath at the reply, she still didn't think she liked the idea of Rory being with Jason for so long, while she didn't have a clue as to her existence.

"I didn't tell you at first, because it was between Rory and me, later, well Carly you have this need to know about and control some of the people I have in my life, Rory would have definitely been one of those persons." He shifted in his chair before continuing, "I didn't know how you would react, maybe I should have told you sooner, I just didn't want you to go off like you normally do."

"What do you mean?" Carly asked.

"If you knew about Rory last August, you would have had all this time to build up this image of who she was and what she was like, once you did that there would be no changing your mind. So instead I wanted you to meet Rory with no advance warning, so I could get an honest reaction from you." He said softly looking in her eyes, "Carly you know I'm right, if you had that much time to think about Rory, it would have been impossible for you ever to like her."

She squirmed, "You make me sound paranoid."

"You are." Jason said quickly "Carly you were in my room for what 2 minutes today and you jumped to the conclusion that I was with Robin. That I had went to Robin, only to hurt you. You know me better than that, but that was where your mind went."

"Jase, I wasn't prepared." She stopped when he just continued to silently stare at her and wait, "Okay so for a minute I applied my way of thinking to you, sorry." She finished with a disgusted sigh, why was it so hard to lie to him when he looked at her like that.

"So from then and until whatever time this started here with Rory, you had what a couple of hours to build an opinion about Rory, before you actually met her. I don't see any blood, you haven't started yelling at me that I am only dating her to punish you, your not screaming at me. Now can you honestly say that if I told you about Rory six months ago and you didn't meet her until today, that this would be the same result?" he knew he was pressing, but he also knew Carly, she had to have each step laid out explicitly before she would fully believe anything.

"Well," She started before turning to yell at Jake, "Anytime you want to bring some beers here, it would be nice. Man the service in this place sucks." She said to Jason, stalling, "But it has some pretty good memories, huh Jase?"

He knew she was stalling and said nothing, Jake set two bottles on the table and walked away.

She took a long drink from the bottle, feeling his eyes on her, damn why did he always make her act like a grown up and tell the truth, sometimes he was worse than Sonny. At least with Sonny she could distract him with an argument or a kiss, but Jason wouldn't be sidetracked. "All right," she said finally, "No I wouldn't have liked Rory if I had known about her before, Hell I've only known her a few hours and I don't think I like her now."

Jason smiled slightly and quickly took a pull off the bottle to hide it, he knew that while something had happened here between Rory and Carly, it wasn't as bad as he had feared. Carly had just confirmed it, _I don't think I like her now_. He would take that as a starting point anytime.

"So how did you and shorty meet anyway?" She asked, it was time to even the scales a little bit, Rory knew far to much about her, and she didn't know much about her, that just wouldn't do.

"We met," Jason answered briefly, knowing full well what Carly was up to.

"Jase." Carly whined.

****

~Table~

Rory glanced at Sonny then, "You said a couple of apologies what's the other one?"

"Well for Carly…" Sonny began.

"Wait a minute, why are you apologizing for Carly?" She interrupted her eyes locked on his.

"Well I know Carly and she can be pretty abusive when she feels threatened and you would definitely threaten her."

"So let me get this straight, you feel the need to apologize for your wife to anyone she has a conversation with?" She asked.

"No."

"If you did I think it's you who needs to apologize to your wife," Rory said with a glare.

"What?" He cried confused, it sounded as if Rory was defending Carly to him, that the hell was going on here.

"In fact if I was Carly I wouldn't accept your apology but I would smack you upside the head," She went on then, "You have no clue that happened here between Carly and I, but you automatically assume that Carly owes me an apology. Man I got to know Sonny what is like to be god?"

"Will you wait a minute and let me finish what I am saying before you jump all over me." He demanded leaning over the table towards her.

"Fine as long as we are clear on one point, when or if Carly ever owes me an apology it will come from her, not someone who considers himself the boss of her." She leaned over the table as well, "You've met me now Sonny, you still think that Carly was the only one who could start anything?"

He opened his mouth to reply, and then leaned back in his seat disgusted, how in the hell was he supposed to defend himself when everything she had just said was true. He rested his elbows on the chair and brought his fingers up to his chin to trace his jaw and studied her. She may look like Elizabeth Webber but she sure didn't act like the girl. Elizabeth was quiet, nice, soft-spoken, unless you saw her with Lucky, she always tried to fade in the background. Rory wouldn't know what the background looked like, he thought as he noticed her ignoring him again.

"Rory, I'm sorry, wait let me finish." He said quickly when she glared at him again, "A lot of people don't handle Carly very well, I'm sorry I put you in that category."

"Do you love her?"

"Yes," Sonny answered immediately.

"Do you want her to be like everyone else, nice, quiet, soft-spoken?"

"No." Again he answered without hesitation.

"Well it seems to me if you like the way she is, and don't want her to change, you ought to let her act like herself without giving her grief about it. If someone else has a problem with the way she acts, then that is their problem, not yours and not even hers." Rory said quietly taking a drink.

"A lot of people wouldn't see it that way."

"Well I hate to keep repeating myself, but I am not like a lot of people."

"No, you're not," Sonny said with a smile showcasing his dimples, man did Jason have his hands full with her.

She saw the dimples and weakened slightly, "Look Sonny, Carly is abrasive, but I knew that going in. I also had the advantage I knew about her, while she knows nothing about me. Some things were said that needed to be said, and some more things will be said, but it will be between us, not you or Jason, but between us."

"Okay I won't try to intervene, tell me does Jason ever win an argument with you?"

'He doesn't argue, he just sits there and lets me babble on, then he makes me laugh and the argument is over." She answered softly with a smile, her entire expression softening when she talked about Jason. Sonny noticed this and was pleased.

"Okay are we done now?" Rory asked.

"Rory I do want to say I am sorry I hurt you this morning, I just wasn't prepared to see you, if it's any consolation, although you may look like Elizabeth you sure don't act like her." He offered softly.

"Can we please not go there again?" Rory pleaded with a groan, "I am so sick of that girl's name."

"Okay, I do want to tell you thank you for saving my life in Puerto Rico, though, I didn't then did I?"

"No you were to busy yelling at me for being there, yelling at Jason because you thought he had involved me when he hadn't, yelling at us both even though you didn't have the whole story. Apparently you like jumping to conclusions, you do it so often." Rory answered keeping her eyes over his shoulder and on Jake at the bar.

He sighed, well he walked into that one, "Rory look at me please." When she did he went on, "I had been under a lot of stress and then things blew up in Puerto Rico. Jason and I were on our knees about to be shot, no executed, I was dealing with the thought of never seeing my family again, the knowledge that my arrogance was about to get my best friend, my brother killed," Sonny broke off and his eyes getting darker when he studied the table, he could still hear the gun being cocked and placed behind his ear, he could still taste the fear.

Rory kept quiet and just waited, something told her not to offer any comfort or platitudes but to wait for him to go on at his own pace.

"Then just when I thought it was over, that I would never see my wife again, you come crashing through the wall of the warehouse in a beat up jeep, and quite literally saved our lives." Sonny smiled and continued, "When we got in the jeep you took us on a drive through the streets of Puerto Rico, the likes I have never seen, hell half the time I think you were only using 2 wheels instead of 4."

"At times I was."

"So when we finally lost Carlos's men, and you stopped to let us out, I went off on you and Jason. It's not an excuse, but I am sorry about it. But the truth is Rory you shouldn't have been there, it was business, my business, and you had no right to involve yourself," Sonny finished his face set in a hard line.

"Sonny I have no desire to get involved in your business, that was a one shot deal." She said leaning over the table to make a point, "But you need to know this, if there comes a time when I find out that Jason is going to be killed or hurt and I can stop it, there is no way in hell you will be able to stop me from being involved."

He nodded his respect for the young woman in front of him growing as he read her eyes and voice, it wasn't a threat or a promise, it was merely a statement of fact. "As long as we understand each other." He said, "But I do want to thank you for saving my life, I won't forget that." He said holding out his hand with a smile.

Rory looked at his hand for a minute, then grinned and took it, she held onto it and got to her feet, "You don't get it Sonny, I crashed through that wall and hit that person that was about to shoot you two, because of Jason. I was there to save Jason's life." She let go of his hand then and began to move past him, before pausing by his chair and looking down at him, "I hate to break it to you Sonny, but you were only an afterthought," she finished with a smile and then moved to the bar.

Sonny sat there a smile crossed his face as her words sunk in, the smile turned into a chuckle and then a laugh, well he had certainly been out in his place he shook his head trying to regain control, man he couldn't help but like her.

"What's so funny?' Carly asked when she came up to him, she could use a laugh just then, Jason had went into his stone face impression and had refused to give her any information about Rory.

"Nothing, you had to be there." Sonny said getting to his feet and slipping an arm around her waist, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, I'm starving." She said kissing him lightly.

"I'll see you in the morning Jason." Sonny said watching Carly walk over to hug Jason.

"See you soon," Carly said with a smile.

"Tomorrow." He said to Sonny, "I'll be by to see Michael, I have something for him," he told Carly.

"Goodbye Rory, I'll talk to you later," Sonny said turning to Rory who was leaning against the bar watching them.

"Night Sonny." Her voice was considerably warmer than it had been, and the words had been spoken with a smile, Sonny considered that a victory.

Carly glanced at Rory but said nothing and moved towards the door.

Rory waited until they had almost reached it before she spoke "Hey Blondie you owe me $20 bucks."

Carly came to a halt and looked back at Rory who was holding out her hand with an expectant grin on her face, "Unless of course you are a welcher."

Carly shot her a fulminating look digging into her purse for the bill, before crossing to her, "This isn't over shorty." She warned thrusting the bill into Rory's hand, and turning away.

"Ding! That's round two," Rory called after her mockingly as Carly stormed from the bar leaving an amused Johnny and Sonny in her wake.

Rory laughed as she pushed off from the bar, "See I told you." She slapped Gus on the back.

"Maybe." Gus said, just maybe this little hellion could have taken the blonde, but still he kept his mouth shut.

****

~Limo~

Carly climbed into the limo fuming, that cocky little twit was not going to know what hit her the next time they saw each other.

Sonny studied her for a minute before giving into temptation, "So what did you think of Rory?"

She glared at him from under her eyelashes, "What could Jason or any man see in a loud, opinionated woman, who never shuts up, likes to make false accusations and jumps to conclusions?"

He coughed hard to mask the laugh her words evoked, didn't she know she was describing herself? He heard a choke from the front seat and saw the back of Johnny's head and shoulders shaking as he tried to smother the laughter as well. He quickly raised the smoky privacy window before Carly noticed.

"So I guess you don't like her then."

"She's strange, I need to see her with Jason before I make up my mind, but I am looking forward to seeing her again. What?" She asked noticing his look of surprise.

"I just figured you already would have told Jason what you thought."

"How? I was around the woman for what an hour? You need longer than that to make a judgment," Carly answered shifting in her seat, she wasn't going to let Sonny accuse her of making snap judgments too.

"Okay." He had no idea what had been done to his wife, but he kind of liked it.

She turned into him then, and began to nuzzle his ear and throat, "Sonny." she ran kisses along his jaw and ran her hand down his chest. "I've been thinking."

Her actions had already put Sonny on alert, and now her words sharpened it, what was she up to? "Hmmm?" he said running his hand through her soft hair.

Carly straddled him, and began to kiss him lightly, "Do you know what we need?" He shook his head, "I think we need to get a pool table in the penthouse." She said before kissing him deeply.

He pulled her away, "A pool table why? You can go to Jakes anytime you want to play."

She began kissing his jaw again, "This way will be handier, I won't have to leave to play," and I can practice all I want too before the rematch.

He knew he shouldn't but he couldn't help but reply "But you know when you come here, Rory will be here I'm sure she would be willing to give you some pointers." He said bracing for her attack by tightening his hold on her.

She reared back, "Sonny!" she yelled struggling to get off of him.

"Nope, you started this," he said bringing her to him to kiss her.

Carly tried to hold onto her anger, but the love inside of her swelled up instead and she kissed him back. But this wasn't over, she would get her pool table yet, was her last thought, when he pressed her against the seat.

****

~Jakes~

"Round 2?" Jason asked leaning against the pool table.

"Yep, and both rounds have been won by the challenger. So who were you here to check up on, me or Carly?" She asked crossing to him and stepping between his legs to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Carly of course." He said with a smile wrapping his arms around her and lowering his head for a quick kiss, "How many times have you told me that you can take care of yourself?"

She smiled up at him, "Liar." She pulled his head down for another kiss, the familiar spicy scent of his aftershave, infiltrated her system, causing it to go haywire. He moved to deepen the kiss, when his hands tightened on her, Rory turned her head to break the kiss. "Oh no Morgan you owe me food."

"You want to eat now?" Jason asked before lowering his head again and kissing her drawing her into him.

"Morgan." Rory began after a long minute, putting a hand on his chest to push him back slightly, "Your hands are on my butt."

"So they are." He said with a sly smile, leaving them there.

"Well Morgan, you really need to eat to keep up your stamina, after all Jason your not as young as you once were." She teased taking advantage of his surprised expression to slip from his hold and back up beyond his reach.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

She smiled sweetly at him pulling on her coat, "Well I was reminded today at how much younger I am than you, and I would hate for you to run out of energy before I am finished with you. Come on I'm driving."

He shook his head, knowing he had just been insulted, but he couldn't help but smile at her, "So were taking your car?"

"Nope, I got the keys so therefore I am driving," Rory chirped holding up his motorcycle keys, keys that should have been in his pocket.

"You know." Jason, said walking towards her, "One day you are going to do that to the wrong person then God help you."

"Too late, I'm already stuck with you."

"Wait that's my complaint, you started this you know, stealing…"

"Allegedly." She interrupted opening the door to Jakes to walk out, "One would think that you of all people would know the value of the word allegedly."

Jason sighed, "Your giving me a headache."

Her laughter echoed around the mostly empty parking lot, and brought a reluctant smile to his lips, "Hey that's my line, there you go trying to be funny again." She crossed to her car to get her helmet out of the trunk.

"Sorry, I'll have to work on that."

She started to retort, when a noise coming from the darkened alley caught her attention, she looked in the alley but it was too dark for her to see anything.

"Rory come on, they might run out of food, and then you'll really be hell to be around."

She shook her head, it was probably just Zeus, "Morgan you've been hanging around me too much, sarcasm, flippancy, jokes, those are my habits." She said climbing on the bike and pulling on her helmet. "You must be developing a sense of humor late in life."

"Sorry." He said with a smile climbing on the bike after her, "I guess it's time I dumped you then, I don't want any of your bad habits rubbing off on me."

"Try it Morgan, if the blonde couldn't get rid of me what makes you think you can?" Rory placed the key in the starter and moved her hand to the clutch.

"What make you think I want to?" Jason asked quietly his breath warm on her neck, as he used his legs to raise the bike, wrapping his arm around her waist, and placing his other hand on hers on the clutch. Rory was very grateful her strength seemed to have disappeared as soon as she heard his words.

"Are we going?"

Rory cursed softly under her breath and started the motorcycle, and put it in gear to get out of the parking lot. She was only half paying attention, the biggest part of her mind was back on the permanence that she could read from his words.

"Rory." Jason said sharply.

Ooops, have to pay attention, she focused on the bike and took off from the parking lot with a jerk, causing his hold to tighten on her, well that went well, she thought with a smile.

Lucky waited until he heard the roar of the motorcycle fade before moving to the head of the alley to look out. His insides were twisted in unfamiliar jealousy, when he witnessed the ease and the teasing banter of her relationship with Jason, a banter that used to exist between her and him.

Put it aside he told himself, now wasn't the time, he may not like his father very much, but Luke had taught him some valuable things. Know your enemy, make the playing field yours, always keep yourself one step ahead of your opponent, and to do that you needed knowledge. It was time for him to start acting instead of reacting. He looked at her car, and then the darkened second floor of Jakes. Where to begin?

He melted back into the alley when he heard a car pull into the lot, followed by another one. He moved to the back door, and let himself in the back of Jakes, by the back stairs, leading towards the tenant's rooms. He moved to the opening to the bar and risked a quick look, quickly pulling back when he saw Jake looking in his direction.

He waited until he heard a loud noise coming from the front of the bar, he risked another glance, and then hurried up the stairs when he saw her attention was diverted. He paused on the landing, listening for anyone on the floor, or coming up after him.

He quickly moved down towards the room that he knew Jason always used, he bent down to pick the single lock, and was inside the room in less than 15 seconds and was pissed. What the hell was Jason thinking? It was one thing to be careless when he was alone, but he had Elizabeth with him, he needed to be concerned with her safety. He knew he relied on his reputation to keep people away, but didn't he know that people made their own reputations by taking out someone like Jason. Wasn't he worried that Elizabeth could be caught in the crossfire?

Later he ordered himself, he didn't know how long they would be gone, and he needed to do what he had planned before they returned. He quickly pulled out a flashlight and got to work.


	13. A few weeks in NY, how bad could it be?

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 12

****

~Kellys~

"I so do not understand this town," Rory grumbled when they walked through the courtyard to the door.

"What about it?" Jason asked.

"Well," She turned to face him, "It has it's own airport, train station, bus station, a major research hospital, captains of industries are headquartered here, there is a recording studio as well, and," She paused looking carefully around the empty courtyard before continuing on in a stage whisper, "I even hear they have the mafia here. But we had to drive for an hour last night for decent Mexican food, how weird is that?" She finished in her normal voice.

He smiled, "Well Port Charles is unique."

"I'll say, this place is weird, how long are we going to be here anyway? I'm not sure I like the effect this place has on you Morgan." She said wrapping her arms around his waist.

"What effect?"

"This early to rise side of you." Jason grinned, "I'm serious we've been here two days and you have woken me up early both days. I tell you I don't like it," she said with a yawn.

he laughed then, "You know you don't have to get up when I do. You can always go back to sleep."

"Yeah right, like I can sleep when you're not in bed with me," Rory grumbled, her eyes widening when she realized what she had said.

His hands tightened on her waist, but she kept her eyes at chest level and she tried to backpedal, "What I mean is…well I've gotten used to…I mean it's just."

"I can't sleep when your not here either," Jason said quietly interrupting her.

That got her attention, she looked up at him, and saw the serious look in his intense eyes mixed with something she couldn't or wouldn't define, "What does that mean Jason?" she asked quietly studying him.

"Rory,"

"Hey in or out people, you're blocking the way." A man's voice interrupted him. Jason glanced over glaring at the man, finally stepping back, pulling Rory with him, to make room for the man and two little girls.

The little dark haired girl made no move to follow the others into Kellys, in fact she seemed glued to the spot her eyes fixated on Rory. The little blonde girl came back and tugged on her arm, "Come on Lulu."

Unsure Rory smiled at the little girl, "Hey I think it's time to go inside kiddo."

Lulu gasped, "You're real!"

Jason stifled a groan when he realized Lulu was short for Leslie Lu Spencer, Lucky's sister.

"Well yes I'm real." Rory said crouching in front of the little girl, "You better go inside honey your daddy's waiting on you."

"He is **not** my daddy!" Lulu cried stamping her foot, "I don't like you no more." she said sticking her tongue out at Rory before running inside.

"Well that was lovely," Rory said staring after the little girl.

"Lulu is Lucky's sister." He said stuffing his hands in his pockets, his left hand brushing the photograph in his pocket. "Rory we need to talk about some things."

"Not now." She said focusing on him, "Food first Morgan." She wasn't ready to talk about what had almost had been said, or the whole Webber fiasco again.

"I don't know Tammy are you sure she just didn't have a slight resemblance to Elizabeth?" Bobbie Spencer asked picking up the coffee pot to make the rounds.

"I'm telling you Bobbie, she could be her twin, I don't know how Lucky is going to handle it. He looked shell-shocked yesterday."

"Aunt Bobbie," Lulu cried running up to her.

"Hey Lulu who are you here with?" Bobbie asked hugging her niece.

"Scott and Serena, but Elizabeth is here and I don't like her no more."

"Oh honey," Bobbie said with a frown, "You know that Elizabeth is gone, remember how Lucky explained that she was an angel in heaven now?"

"Nu-uh. She's outside and I don't like her." Lulu said shaking her head before running over to the table.

Bobbie shook her head her eyes going to the door when it opened, "Elizabeth!" The name came out in a high-pitched breathless squeak.

"See I told ya." Lulu said preening.

Rory saw the sickening situation unfolding again and decided to head it off. She focused on the obvious redhead and when the woman started to call her Elizabeth again she moved in for the kill. "Hi there," Rory said cheerfully crossing to the woman, interrupting her. "I'm Rory," the woman stared at her and opened her mouth again, "No don't worry about it will just sit at this table here," Rory gestured to a table, cutting her off again, "The strong silent type here will have coffee and I'll have juice. Can you believe he likes that stuff? I hear it just makes you hyper, can you imagine?" Rory paused studying the shaken woman, whose mouth was still open now in shock. "Well I can't, so I'll stick with juice, he says it's better for everyone else if I don't drink coffee anyway, now you go ahead and get our drinks and we'll just take these menus." Rory finished pulling the menu from Bobbie's lifeless grip, before settling at a table.

Jason sat down opposite her with a grin. "Run along now, we'll let you know when were ready." Rory said when she noticed the woman just standing there staring at her. Really would the woman not get a clue? Maybe those tight clothes she was wearing was cutting off the oxygen to her brain. Rory sighed in relief when the woman finally turned away. "What?" she asked when she noticed Jason's grin.

"You like doing that don't you?"

"What being mistaken for a ghost every time I enter a room, oh yeah it's one of my favorite things."

"No confusing people."

"Well I'm a firm believer in doing what you do best," she said with a smile.

"Jason?"

Jason turned and focused on Bobbie when she set their drinks in front of them. He smiled and stood quickly to give her a hug. Rory watched this her eyes going speculative, she knew he was not the demonstrative type, so she wondered who the woman was.

"Bobbie it's good to see you."

Bobbie, Rory ran the name through her memory bank, Michael's grandmother, Carly's mother, and his good friend.

"Jason it's so good to see you, does Carly know your back?" she asked with a smile.

"Yes I saw her yesterday, Bobbie this is my friend Rory Nichols." Jason said gesturing to Rory, who had gotten up to stand by him.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, Jason has told me some nice things about you," Rory smiled holding out her hand, "I'm sorry about before, I always get weird when I'm hungry."

"That's okay I was just caught off guard, your resemblance to a late friend of mine is remarkable, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Bobbie said staring at her again.

"No problem," Rory said dropping to her seat.

"What can I get you?"

Jason waited until Bobbie had taken their order and left, before pulling the photograph out of his pocket, and extending it to Rory face down. "There's something we need to talk about."

She glanced down at the photo then back at him, she made no move to take the picture from him "What would that be?"

"The situation with Elizabeth Webber." He said setting the picture face down on the table.

"There is no situation with Elizabeth Webber, the girl is dead, and certain people seem to think I look like her that's all." She said, wishing he would let it go. She didn't want to make a big deal out of this, not with him.

He sighed, "Rory it's more than just a few people, and now I know that there is more than just a resemblance."

"How do you know?" Rory asked uneasily.

"Yesterday Emily gave me a photograph of her and Elizabeth. Rory you do look a lot like her." He said softly covering her hand with his.

"How would you know, you don't see photographs?" Rory lashed out, uncomfortable with the feelings his words were raising in her. He immediately let go of her hand and pulled away.

"God Jason I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." Instantly contrite she reached for his hand, lacing her fingers in his, "I'm sorry I lashed out at you, it's just we've only been here two days and I'm already sick of this. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, you just spoke the truth." He said shortly, "Just look at the photo and tell me what you see."

She felt bad knowing she had hurt him, because she did not want to look at the photograph. She knew somehow that once she did everything would change. She stared at the photo, for a second before raising her eyes to his, "Jason I'm sorry," she said again her eyes unconsciously begging his not to push this.

"Rory just look at the photo," He said quietly, "It's only a picture, you have nothing to be afraid of." He finished pushing the right button.

"Who said I was afraid?" Rory asked, immediately reaching for the photo.

"Jesus." The word slipped out as she looked at herself. Well not herself but the mirror image of herself nonetheless. She glanced up at Jason with questions in her eyes.

"Apparently that was taken the night she died." He answered his eyes never leaving her face. He watched the color drain from her face, and saw the disbelief and fear reflected in her light eyes, when she bent her head to study the photograph again.

"Now you know why everyone reacts the way they do."

"Yeah," Rory murmured staring at the photo, of Emily and Elizabeth. It was so odd, to stare at a picture that was of you and at the same time wasn't you.

"Emily showed me the photo, but I put it together and I saw you. Judging from your reaction I guess I was right on the money." Jason said studying her, he wished he could have let it drop, but she needed to be prepared that these reactions would continue for as long as they were in town, "Rory are you okay?"

"Okay, yes I guess so, I just don't know what I'm supposed to say to this." She raised her head to study him, the confusion evident in her eyes, "I mean I'm sorry that she died, I'm sorry I look like her, but there's nothing I can do about it, so I don't know what you want me to feel."

"You feel what you feel. I just wanted you to be prepared, that this will go on for our entire time here. In fact it will probably be worse, as you venture into other places. Thanks," he said to Tammy and moved to make room for their food.

"Well how long are we going to be here? Originally you thought it would be a couple of days and then we would go on to New Zealand, has that changed?" Rory asked placing the photo face down on the table again, relieved that she was no longer staring at it.

"I'm not real sure, this is going to take longer than I thought, it might be a few weeks, or a month." He said quickly shoving some food in his mouth, hoping she would take the news good.

"A month?" Rory asked surprised, she didn't know if she could handle this place for a month, she didn't know if she could take it for a week.

"Yes, sooner if things fall in line. I'm sorry but I can't speed it up. You know you really should eat while it's hot." He gestured to her still untouched plate, Rory not eating was such a bad sign, he didn't dare mention moving into the penthouse yet.

"Why, hold it forget I asked that, but are you sure?" Rory asked quietly, she had a bad feeling that told her to get out of Port Charles as soon as possible.

"I'm sorry Rory, Sonny needs me here," Jason said pinching the bridge of his nose.

"It's okay Jason, we'll stay for as long as it takes." Rory said quickly, knowing she would never ask him to turn away from Sonny, "A few weeks in upstate New York, how bad could it be?" She asked with a smile, that faded when she saw Lucky Spencer walk down the stairs and into the room, "I had to ask."


	14. A very LITTLE joke

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 13

****

~Quartermaines~

Emily raced into the bathroom, and barely made it before she got sick, this was becoming a hellish morning ritual. She got to her feet when the nausea passed, and ran water over her face, before brushing her teeth.

She avoided looking at herself in the mirror and wondered bleakly how long she could keep lying to herself. She was terrified that it wasn't the flu, too terrified to take the test she had bought a few days ago and was hidden in her room.

Sighing she moved back into the bedroom and collapsed on the bed. She had a hard time even thinking the word, so how could she find out for sure if she was pregnant. She sat up and wrapped her arms around her knees leaning against the headboard. If she was pregnant, than everything that people had said to her about Zander was the truth. She couldn't bear that. If she were pregnant, everything that was wrong with her life would be magnified ten times over. If she was pregnant she had gotten what she so arrogantly had asked for. If she was pregnant than the man she thought she knew, and loved was nothing but the user that everyone thought he was. But if she wasn't pregnant than maybe she could get her life back. If she wasn't pregnant maybe she could start to live again. If she wasn't pregnant than she was thinking bad thoughts about Zander for no reason. Emily groaned there were so many ifs in her life she needed to find some things out for sure.

God, she thought I need someone to talk to, unbidden Rory's voice entered her head, _"I'm not her Emily, but I would like to be your friend, if you let me."_

She didn't know why but she already felt a connection to Rory, maybe it was the resemblance, maybe it was because of Jason, or maybe it was just Rory, but she thought she could trust her. But could she trust her not to tell Jason? She stared at the phone.

****

~Kellys~

Lucky's steps slowed as he entered the room and saw Elizabeth with Jason, they were holding hands. Jealousy rose up again but he fought it down. Remember the plan he told himself.

"Lucky." Lulu cried racing over to him.

Rory tightened her grip on Jason's hand when he went tense at the little girl's words, his eyes quickly searching the room for Lucky. She pulled on his hand to get him to look at her, "Take it easy."

"Lucky, Elizabeth is here and I don't like her anymore, she's mean," Lulu said hanging onto him, glaring at Rory.

"It's okay Lulu." Lucky said squatting down beside her before forcing himself to go on, he knew they were listening, "I know it's confusing, but that is not Elizabeth, her name is Rory."

"She's not?" Lulu asked confused, she knew her brother wouldn't lie to her, and he didn't smell like her daddy right now, so he was telling the truth.

"No, but she confused me too, Lulu." Lucky said smiling at her, "You better go eat your breakfast."

"Okay."

Lucky took a breath before heading to their table.

Jason got to his feet, moving to intercept Lucky, who stopped immediately holding up his hand, "Jason I'm not here to start anything, in fact I want to apologize for the other night, and yesterday."

Jason studied him, usually he could tell when someone was lying, and he was trying to get a read on Lucky, "You were out of line Lucky, and you hurt Rory."

Lucky's blue eyes darkened at that, and Jason could read the genuine regret and shame in them. "I know I want to apologize for that."

"Jason." Rory said then resting her hand on his back. "It's okay let him talk."

Jason looked down at her then sighed heavily before perching on the edge of his seat, ready to move at the first sign of trouble.

"I haven't been in the best of shape lately, I know that you two saw that," Lucky began speaking to both of them before concentrating on her. "I am sorry, your resemblance to Elizabeth really shook me, but I shouldn't have grabbed you or frightened you. I am sorry."

Rory nodded, "Don't do it again."

Lucky nodded and turned to Jason, "I'm sorry for attacking you, I'm not a violent person, you know that, especially not with old friends, so I'm sorry." 

Jason studied him for a minute, he just couldn't get a read on Lucky, "Okay we'll let it pass," he said finally, "this time," he finished with a warning.

Lucky grinned then, "Great well I have to go, Goodbye." He said and quickly walked out the door.

Lucky paused outside and took a deep breath that had gone better than he expected. He turned to look back at her again, "Just hang on a little while longer Elizabeth, I'll get you back." He murmured before walking away with a whistle.

"Earth to Jason," she said after a minute.

"What?" he asked focusing on her.

"What did you think? Was he sincere?"

"I don't know, I still don't want you alone with him." He caught her look and quickly continued, "If you can help it."

"I said I wouldn't be alone with him, and I'll try not to," Rory said digging into her lukewarm pancakes.

"I would rather have you promise me that you won't."

"You know I rarely promise anything because I have never broken my promise."

"Exactly. Why do you think I want you to promise me." Jason argued with a smile.

"Drop it Morgan, quit while you're ahead."

"Oh My God!"

Rory turned to look at the man who had paused by their table and was staring at her. With a groan she bowed her head and rubbed a hand over her eyes, "No my name is not Elizabeth." She said testily not looking up.

"It's not? Well of course it's not." He said forcing his gaze from her, "Hello Jason, when did you get back in town?" He asked extending his hand.

"A few days ago Ned," Jason answered shaking his hand.

"So who knows?" Ned asked his eyes darting over to the woman at the table again before looking at Jason for his answer.

"Emily, I'm going to see grandmother later, and so does A.J." Jason said feeling a kick under the table. Frowning he turned to Rory who smiled at him innocently.

"Ned Ashton, meet Rory Nichols." He said shaking his head.

"Hi Ned, it's nice to meet you." Rory paused studying him, "I just wanted to say I enjoy your music."

"Thanks, I'm sorry about before."

"Happens all the time," Rory said flippantly waving his apology off, with a smile.

"Ned?" A blonde woman called from across the room.

"Good to see you again Jason, nice meeting you Rory," he said with a grin, showcasing his dimples, before moving over to the blonde.

Rory watched him walk away, his butt was fine even without the leather pants. "What?" she asked turning to face an amused Jason.

"I think you know."

"Worried? Don't be Jason you still got the best butt around, of course anytime you want to slip into some leather pants, I won't stop you."

Jason choked on his coffee and she laughed, she was spared his reply when his phone rang.

"Morgan," he said glaring at her.

__

"Hi Jason, are you busy?"

"No Emily, I just finished breakfast, what do you need?" he asked he could hear the tension in her voice.

__

"Well actually I was looking for Rory, she wasn't at Jake's and I wondered if you knew where she was," Emily asked twisting the cord of the pay phone around her fingers.

"Yeah, hold on," Jason said holding out the phone to Rory.

"Hello Emily."

__

"Rory I was wondering if you wanted to get together and get to know each other."

"Sounds good. When?" Rory paused "I'm at Kellys I'll wait for you, bye."

"So she's coming here?" Jason asked taking his phone back, "She sounded upset."

"I know I heard it too, she said she wants to get to know me."

He shifted in his chair, "If she says anything…"

"If she says anything it will be between her and me." She interrupted. "Don't you have somewhere your supposed to be?"

He sighed, "Yeah," he stood and dropped some bills on the table, "I'll call you later."

"Okay, run along now and play with your beans." She said with a smile.

Jason reached down pulling her to her feet and kissed her hard before letting her go. She slipped back into her seat, after that all too brief, yet devastating kiss. "Bye." he said with a smile and walked away.

"Uh…later," Rory managed, she was having trouble thinking again. She eventually became aware of the eyes on her again, and her smile faded. She got to her feet and crossed over to Ned's table, "Excuse me do you have a piece of paper I could have?" she asked the blonde gesturing to the sketch pad the woman carried.

"Sure." She answered pulling out a blank sheet.

"Thanks." Rory said with a smile turning quickly away, so she missed Ned's jolt of surprise.

"Well that explains why Nikolas and Emily were acting so weird last night." Ned muttered.

Rory sat at the table and wrote on the paper, then went to work folding it so it would stand up in a triangle on her table. Satisfied she placed it in front of her and went back to her breakfast, and it was quiet for a few minutes.

"Rory huh? That's a pretty name for a beautiful woman." A man said studying the nameplate she had made, and then her. He smiled at her appreciatively.

Rory glanced up and saw a man with dark hair about her age, he wasn't that tall, but he seemed to have a rather long neck. She said nothing, going back to her breakfast.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked and not waiting for an answer he dropped into the empty chair across from her.

"Yes I do mind." She wasn't in the mood for a breakfast lothario.

"Hey I'm just being friendly, I haven't seen you here before, I would have remembered you, are you new in town?" He asked leaning over the table, to smell her perfume, she was a pretty one.

"Look I'm not interested, and besides I'm waiting for someone." Rory snapped.

"Well you don't need to wait for him any longer, trust me the bigger and better deal has arrived," he said with a smile laying his hand over hers.

"Actually I'm waiting on a her…" She pulled her hand from his.

"Even better," he said quickly his eyes lighting at the prospect.

She stared at him, well that explained his big neck, he needed it to keep his head upright, "Do you model?" she asked suddenly.

"No but you sure could." He was glad she was dropping the hard to get routine, that was so over used.

Images of him as the model for the Bobbing Head Guy toy were dancing in her head, so it took a moment for her to register the fact that his hand was now on her knee.

Rory leaned forward preparing to do damage then.

"Zander, I didn't know you were here," Emily's voice came from behind the man.

Rory's eyes narrowed, the hand was quickly removed from her knee, and he turned to look at Emily, "Hey Emily, I was looking for you." He said with a smile.

"I see you met Rory." She said, at his blank look she went on "Jason's girlfriend, oh there's Ned I need to tell him something, I'll be right back."

Zander watched her go before turning to face a hostile looking Rory, man had he messed up. "Look I think you might have misread what just happened here."

Rory cocked a brow and waited, this ought to be interesting.

"As you can see, I'm involved with Emily." He paused, but Rory didn't say anything, "I love Emily, this was just a little harmless fun." He said waiting again for her to speak, but she just watched him waiting to see how far deep he would dig himself. 

"Damn'it it was just a joke." He said desperately.

"Oh you're right it would have been a joke alright." Rory said her eyes running over him, "More than likely a very **little** joke, but it would have been a joke nonetheless."

"Wait a minute." He snarled insulted, "I don't know what you think just happened here, but you better keep your mouth shut."

"That sounds like a threat Zander, you really shouldn't threaten me." Rory ordered, "I think you better leave now."

"Not until I know what you're going to tell Emily, if you try to wreck us, you will regret it you little witch." Zander said menacingly, leaning back in his chair, "and don't think your mobster boyfriend scares me either, I have my ways of dealing with brain damaged idiots like him, and little bitches like you, so you better keep your mouth shut."

Emily turned around to walk back to the table just in time to see Zander and his chair, fly over backward and crash headfirst on the floor. "Zander." She cried racing over to him, "Are you okay?"

Rory got to her feet, and stared down at the stunned man on the floor, who was rubbing his head. "Zander you really ought to be more careful in how you approach things, you never know how something will react to you." She said catching his eye in warning.

"What happened?" Emily asked helping him to his feet.

"Oh he was rocking in his chair, and he made a miscalculation, I'd watch that Zander, try that again and you could really get hurt," Rory said with a violent look in her eye.

Zander read the threat in her words, and got to his feet, "Come on Emily."

"No I have plans with Rory." Emily said setting the chair upright.

"Emily I think we need to spend some time alone together." He said catching her hand.

"Now Zander, you really should run along now, Emily and I need to get to know each other better, you've had her to yourself for far to long now." Rory interrupted.

"Emily." Zander said sharply.

"I'll see you later, Zander." She said with a small smile.

"Whatever." He snapped and stormed from Kellys.

Sighing Emily dropped into the chair, rubbing her hand over her face and braced for the comment she knew would be forthcoming.

Rory studied Emily, she could see she was waiting for a verbal blow, "Be careful Emily, that chair has already claimed one victim already, Jason would have my hide if I let anything happen to you." She said trying to lighten the mood.

Emily smiled and looked over at Rory. It was easier looking at her today, and she was relieved. Her eyes widened and she let out a laugh when she saw the nametag, Rory had made, sitting on the table.

Rory shrugged before laughing, "Well I thought it couldn't hurt, here's your photo back." She finished handing her the photo face down.

"Well you probably do need it, especially here." Emily said sobering glancing at the photo before putting it in her bag.

"Why?"

"Well Elizabeth worked here for several years, didn't Jason tell you?"

"Morgan you are so dead." Rory said shaking her head, "You know information like that would have been useful, yesterday." She finished on a groan.

Emily laughed, "Morgan?"

"Yes he's Morgan when he's in trouble, so actually I call him that a lot," Rory said with a grin.

Emily laughed, she really did like Rory, "You want to get out of here?"

"Yes, before Tammy has some memory break and starts thinking I am Elizabeth and tries to put me to work."

****

~Warehouse~

"Jason it's good to see you," Benny said with a smile when Jason entered the building.

"Hey Benny how's the numbers business?" Jason asked slapping the older man on the back.

"Coming along," Benny said his bushy eyebrows wagging wolfishly, "Coming along," he repeated and walked out.

Jason kept moving until he heard Sonny's voice, "I told you to move the French Vanilla, not the Mocha. How in the hell did you get Mocha out of the words French Vanilla?" Sonny asked disgustedly.

Jason smirked knowing without seeing him who Sonny was talking to, Dean Gagal wasn't the smarted guy in the warehouse.

"Sorry, it happened," Dean said with a shrug, before walking off. Jason stopped and pressed back against the wall to let the man pass, Dean was huge.

Sonny shook his head and stared after Dean, "Go on then were finished here." He yelled after the man, then he caught sight of Jason and laughed, "Tell me again why we keep him around?"

"Well when the forklift breaks, he becomes one, and the guys love his smutty jokes."

"That's right, I knew there was a reason. You're running late today," Sonny said moving into the office.

"Yeah, I had to talk to Rory about some stuff." Jason followed closing the door behind him.

"Stuff?" he asked.

"Yes, stuff. Hey why was she mad at you last night?" He asked pulling off his coat.

Sonny sighed sitting down, "When I saw her yesterday morning I had the same reaction everyone else has, I guess she wasn't expecting it from me and I hurt her."

"Oh, that's one of the things I wanted to talk to her about. I showed her a picture of Elizabeth."

"How did she handle it?"

"She was uncomfortable, especially when I told her we were going to be here longer than she thought," he said rubbing his neck.

"So she's not happy about staying? Does she want to leave?" Sonny asked not wanting to cause Jason any problems, but he really needed him here.

"No, she's isn't thrilled, but she would never ask me to leave, she knows you need me here. That's enough for her."

"So she doesn't question you?"

"No the only thing she every asks is what to pack."

"You're lucky." Sonny couldn't help but feel envious, sometimes it was hard getting out of the penthouse.

"I know," Jason couldn't help but smile, he remembered Carly's insatiable need to know everything.

"I wanted to talk to you about Lucky," Sonny said grimacing, "I didn't like the way he was acting yesterday."

Jason slouched in the chair and studied Sonny, "I saw him this morning he apologized to Rory and me."

"Did you believe him?"

"Well I know he was serious about being sorry for hurting Rory, as for the rest, I'm not sure, it was hard to get a read on him." Jason admitted.

Sonny leaned back in his chair, "Well he was adamant yesterday that she was Elizabeth, he was out of control then, I've never seen him like that."

"Did he threaten her, or you?" he asked tensing, Rory hadn't told him much about her conversation with Lucky.

"Not Rory, but me, he seems to think I was working with you to keep Elizabeth away from him. I think you need to keep an eye on him, it's hard to believe he would let it go overnight." Sonny sighed he wanted to believe that Lucky had come to his senses, but he wanted Jason and Rory to be prepared just in case.

"I will, and Rory had agreed not to be alone with him if she can help it."

"Was she okay after her run in with Carly?"

"Yeah in fact she was jazzed about it. She wouldn't tell me what happened though, when I asked she said it had nothing to do with me, which I though was a little strange." Jason said with a shrug.

"Carly was pretty tightlipped too," Sonny said smiling, "Except she did tell me she wants to buy a pool table."

"A pool table?" Jason laughed, "Man she hates to lose."

"She did say she was looking forward to seeing you and Rory together so I thought we would all have dinner tonight."

Jason stared at Sonny in shock, "Sonny let's not push it, there was no carnage last night, but having them together with silverware," he shook his head, "I don't think that's wise."

Sonny smirked staring at his friend, Jason hardly ever made comments like that, Rory must be rubbing off on him.

Jason saw the smirk, "What?"

"Nothing, I was just noticing the change in you, I think I like it." Sonny answered grinning broadly when Jason glared at him getting to his feet. He continued before Jason decided to retreat again, "I thought we would go to the No-Name, that way word will get out."

Jason sighed and pinched his nose, knowing he was caught, "I'll call Rory and ask her."

"Ask?" Sonny said.

Jason raised an eyebrow, "Yes ask, she's her own person I don't dictate her life to her."

Sonny shifted feeling the sting of that rebuke, "Well I'll check with Carly and let you know later on."

"Fine," Jason said and left the office.


	15. Butterflies

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 14

****

~Docks~

"So let me get this straight, Jason had no clue what you had done, until he woke up the next morning?" Emily asked when she could breathe again; Rory was keeping her in stitches.

"Nope."

"Oh my god, I would have loved to have heard him when he found out," Emily cried collapsing on a bench with a laugh.

"Well actually I'm surprised you didn't hear him, he wasn't exactly quiet," Rory said shaking her head at the memory. "Besides it's not like I did any permanent damage, it was only a temporary tattoo, and it wasn't visible to anyone but me, well it better not have been."

Emily started laughing again it was hard to imagine her oh so serious brother with Rory. She had discovered within five minutes of being around Rory that any awkwardness had faded, in the face of her take no prisoner's personality. Rory definitely did not act like Elizabeth, except for maybe the big heart both women seemed to have. "Okay stop, I need air." She said finally gasping for breath.

Rory just smiled, glad she had eased Emily's mind, whatever had been bothering her seemed to have been forgotten for the time being, in fact the past several hours had flown by.

"Okay let's talk about you, Jason said you wanted to be a writer, and now he thinks its law?"

"I don't know, I'm barely 18, it's hard to know what I want to do with my life." Emily shrugged.

"Well I can understand that, I'm 20 and I still don't have a clue, what I want to do with my life," Rory broke off catching sight of something down the dock, "But I do know what I want right now."

"What?"

"A hotdog, want one Em, my treat?" Rory said getting to her feet.

"Okay," Emily said starting after her only to stop when her cell rang.

"I'll get it." Rory said heading for the vendor.

"Okay fully loaded," Emily called, "Hello."

__

"Emily where are you," Zander asked not bothering to say hello, "I've been looking for you."

"I've been all over, giving Rory a tour of Port Charles."

__

"What? You're still with her? You guys were at Kelly's hours ago?" Zander said nervously, what had the little bitch said about him. "What could you two have found to talk about, Port Charles isn't that big."

"Lot's of things Zander, why?" Emily asked tensing she didn't like his tone.

__

"Well, whatever she said about me ignore it, she just doesn't like me. She's just like your other friends stuck up."

Emily closed her eyes, at the flash of pain she felt, when she realized the truth, Zander had hit on Rory, and he was afraid Rory had told her, "You didn't," she whispered.

__

"Didn't what? Look I don't know what she has been telling you, but the girl is a nutcase," Zander said quickly.

"Why do you keep doing this to me Zander?" Emily said walking to the water, why do I keep letting you do this to me, "Are you trying to hurt me?"

__

"Emily I didn't do anything," Zander snapped, "Look she's with your brother, and you know he hates me, so she would say anything to break us up."

"She never even mentioned your name, Zander."

__

Oh man, Zander thought hitting his hand against the doorframe, he was making a lot of mistakes lately that was going to have to stop. "Look Emily, I thought she might have misread something I said when I met her, that's all."

"What that you wanted to sleep with her like every other woman you've been talking to?" Emily asked bitterly.

__

"Emily I do not hit on other women, I love you, you know that. Yes I do find other women attractive, sometimes they flirt with me, and sometimes I get tempted, it's hard to resist when you keep putting on the brakes, every time we get close."

"You said you understood that I wasn't ready," Emily said quickly.

__

"Are you ever going to be ready, ever since that night you've hardly even let me kiss you. I'm sorry Emily but I'm a man and sometimes it's like I'm dating a girl not a woman," Zander accused deciding it was time to press the issue.

Emily sucked in a breath, "So is this an ultimatum, sleep with you or were through?"

__

"No of course not Emily, I'm just telling you how I feel, you're the one always going on and on how we need to be honest with each other. I'm just telling you that I find the situation frustrating." Zander paused before applying some guilt, "Or am I wrong, do you only want me to tell you when I'm feeling happy?"

"No," Emily choked out, "I have to go Zander," closing her phone and continuing to stare out over the water.

Rory had paused when she saw Emily was on the phone, wanting to give her some privacy, but the wind couldn't help but carry Emily's words to her. She really wanted to meet Zander again; she would do a lot more than flip his chair when she did.

"Here you go Emily," Rory said brightly not quite sure how to proceed, she thought she'd wait and take her cues from Emily.

"Thanks," Emily said wiping the tears from her face, averting her gaze while reaching for the hotdog.

"No problem," Rory said as they moved to the bench, "I always loved being around the water, I guess because it always impressed me with how insignificant I really am."

"What?" Emily asked not really listening to her.

"Well here's this huge body of water, that has been around forever, it's seen more things than I will ever see. We can't control it, we can't stop it, the only thing we can do is respect it, and even then we fail. As powerful as we think we are, the water can defeat us anytime." She said before turning to Emily, "I don't know I guess I always feel pretty small next to it like my problems don't mean a thing."

Emily studied Rory then, "You heard me on the phone."

Rory flushed slightly, "Yes, I wasn't trying to listen but I heard. If you want to talk about it, I'll listen if you don't I won't mention it."

Emily sighed setting the hotdog on the bench beside her, wasn't this what she had wanted to talk to Rory about things, "He did didn't he?"

Rory raised her eyebrows questioningly, her mouth full of her own hotdog.

"He hit on you," Emily paused, "and I bet he didn't just happen to fall out of his chair either did he?"

"I won't apologize for it, I'm just sorry your hurting."

"He's not usually like that," Emily said continuing on quickly when Rory only looked at her. "He's not, you should have been here when I first met him," she broke off remembering the gun and the fear she had felt when she first met him, "Well not then, but later as I got to know him, I discovered a really great guy who had some rotten breaks."

Rory kept quiet, eating her hotdog and waited for Emily to go on.

"It's just he's real insecure, everyone in my life thinks he's worthless, a deviant, a criminal, that he deserves to be on death row, when he doesn't. He didn't deserve to be killed for what he did, so I had to help him." Her words began to tumble out faster, "And even after he helped convict Sorel, people still won't cut him a break."

"You're right I don't think he deserved to go to jail for murdering that cop. He did a good thing getting Sorel convicted." Rory agreed quietly.

"Right." Emily said looking at Rory in confusion, "It's just he is older than I am, he's used to having sex in a relationship and I have been dragging my feet on that, so it's only natural that he would look someplace else right? I mean every time we get close I freeze up with him, he's a man and bound to be frustrated."

"No what he is doing is not right Emily. I don't care what age he is or you are, if he is pressuring you for sex, and using the old I'm a man, I have needs excuse, it doesn't matter, he shouldn't do it, it's wrong." Rory said quickly.

"You don't understand him."

"That's right I don't, but I do understand men similar to him, whatever mess or problem they have is not their fault, it's someone else's. They say they love you, but they would love you more if you would just do this one thing for them."

"He loves me." Emily argued desperately.

"Okay then to you love means, that it's okay to cheat on someone because their frustrated, it's okay to belittle them if they refuse, it's alright to pressure them into doing things they don't want. Is that what love is to you? Is that what you think Jason and I have?"

"No of course not, it's just he…" Emily's voice trailed off.

"Look I can understand why you wanted to help Zander, he was going to be executed for something he didn't do. You helped him and I commend you for that. But when is it enough? Yes he didn't deserve to die, but does that mean he deserves you?" Rory pressed.

"I love him."

"Then why doesn't the smile reach your eyes? Why when you are close to him do you freeze up? When you love someone, really love them, you don't freeze when they touch you. Even if you aren't ready to sleep with him, you still would feel comfortable around him." Rory argued, "You don't act or feel that way with Zander do you?"

"I-I." Emily began the tears starting to fall.

"Emily I'm not trying to hurt you, but holding onto someone because you're afraid of who you are without them is just not right. You deserve so much more than that, you can't live your life for someone else, especially when he's not doing the same for you."

"You don't understand, I have to…" Emily broke off when nausea swamped her.

"Emily!" Rory cried when the girl went white and perspiration formed on her brow.

"Get it away." Emily choked gesturing to the hotdog.

Rory pushed Emily's head between her knees, and quickly picked up the hotdog and threw it away. She jogged down the dock, and bought some water from the vendor, before racing back to Emily, who was rocking herself on the bench.

"Here put some water on your face and breathe." Rory said putting the bottle in her hand.

"I'm okay," Emily said after awhile, "Sorry if I spooked you, I had the flu last week I must not be over it."

Rory sighed and studied her friend, "Are you pregnant?"

"No." Emily said immediately before continuing on in a small voice, "Maybe."

"I thought you said you had never slept with Zander."

"I haven't or so he says. He told me we stopped. I remember saying no, and he said we stopped. If he's lying to me I don't know what to do, if he lied and something happened then yes I may be pregnant. God I don't know what to wish for, if I'm pregnant than my boyfriend is a liar, if I'm not than I'm awful for thinking he's a liar." Emily said crying.

Puzzled, Rory leaned closer, "Emily I don't understand what happened?"

Emily closed her eyes and took a deep breath before beginning, "You see one night when we were alone we…"

"Hi Rory, Emily," Jason called coming down the docks to them.

Emily grabbed Rory's hand, "He can't know." She cried desperately, "Please!"

"It's okay, I'll handle it," Rory said, getting to her feet to slow Jason down.

"Hey yourself," Rory said rushing up to him, Jason stopped and dropped a quick kiss on her lips before pulling back. Rory stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull his head down for another kiss.

Passion erupted between them, when Rory nipped at his lips demanding entrance, her hands burying themselves in his hair, pulling his head closer. His hands tightened on her hips, when she leaned against him, supporting her weight as she deepened the kiss. She broke the kiss to take a breath, before placing kisses along his jawline.

"Rory." Jason said finally, becoming aware that they were on the docks in the middle of the day, "Stop that." He said but the order had no punch to it, her mouth had found it's way to the sensitive spot behind his earlobe. God that drove him crazy.

"Okay I'll stop," Rory said pulling back and breathing hard herself, stopping the sensual assault as quickly as she had started it. She had only meant to give Emily some time to get control of herself, but something happened to her control every time she touched him. It simply vanished.

Jason caught her hand pulling her closer to him, his eyes were a deeper shade of blue, and like hers were full of longing at the moment, "Not that I'm complaining but what was that for?"

"Oh I had a hotdog." She answered simply.

Jason laughed, staring at her in amusement is there any wonder he loved her, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her, "Remind me to stop at the store then."

"Why we don't have anywhere to cook them."

"I'll find us a place," Jason growled kissing her lightly before turning his gaze to Emily who was watching them with an amused expression on her face. "Hi," he said with a smile.

"Hi yourself, do you two want to be alone?"

"Are you kidding she barely lets me go outside as it is, every once in a while I need fresh air," Jason teased with a sly smile.

Emily's mouth dropped open in shock, she knew Jason had a sense of humor, regardless of what other's thought. It was dry but it was there, but one liners? Now that was a new one.

"Can it Morgan," Rory said pulling out of his hold, to slap his arm, biting her lip to keep from laughing. Damn that was good line she wished she had thought of it.

Jason smiled at her seeing the amusement in her eyes, "So what have you two been up to?"

"Oh I've got the nickel tour of Port Charles, or what did you call it Em, Port Chuckles?"

"Yeah a friend of mine always calls it that, Jason have you seen grandmother yet?"

"No that was where I was heading now."

"Good, I know she's been missing you, I need to go I have to meet Monica."

"Okay." Rory said crossing too her to give her a hug, "Our secret." She whispered and Emily sighed in relief. "Call me," she said pulling away.

Jason heard her sigh, and moved over to them, "I'll talk to you soon Emily." He said hugging her, before looking in her face and seeing the red puffy eyes, she had been crying, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine it's just allergies."

"Emily." he said catching her arm when she turned to walk away.

"So have you seen any butterflies lately?" Emily asked desperate to get him off track. Rory let out a groan behind them.

"B-butterflies?" He sputtered, looking back at Rory who smiled at him. Who rolled her eyes once he turned back to Emily.

"Yeah Rory tells me that you seem to attract them."

"She did? What else did she tell you?" Jason asked quietly glaring at Rory who was looking everywhere but at him.

Emily had mentioned it only so he wouldn't press her, but now she was glad she did, "She just mentioned that they seemed to have an affection for you in Mexico." She said with a smile.

"Rory you didn't." Jason snapped with a groan, rubbing his hand over his face.

Rory swallowed her laugh and faced him then, "Jason I just mentioned we saw some butterflies while we were in Mexico and they seemed to have taken a liking to a rather sweet part of you." She said seriously and with a straight face until she made the mistake of looking at Emily, which caused them both to burst out laughing.

His head snapped back and forth between the two women, who were laughing at him, he cursed under his breath and crossed his arms over his chest to glare at them.

"Sorry Jason," Emily managed gasping for breath, he just glared at her, "I really have to go now." She said the look on his face was priceless. "Bye." She raced up the stairs, her laughter floating down to him.

Rory put her hands over her mouth in an attempt to gain control, when Jason focused on her. She took a deep breath before speaking, "So you better go then, you don't want to keep your grandmother waiting."

Jason said nothing but took a step closer to her, "Uh she knows your coming right? You don't want to shock her or anything." She went on, noticing him take another step closer.

She took a step back, "Your not mad are you?" She asked feeling the need to laugh welling up in her again. She had a feeling that wouldn't be good right now.

He raised his eyebrow, his eyes never leaving her face and moved closer to her.

"Jason you have nothing to be embarrassed about." She backed up, "It was a story to cheer her up, that's all."

He said nothing but kept coming closer to her, she risked a quick look over her shoulder the water was getting awfully close. She knew he wouldn't push her, but she didn't know if he would try to catch her right now either.

"Now Jason she wanted to know how we met, and since you don't like me to tell that story I told this one instead. I didn't know it would upset you. Maybe you should make me a list of what stories I can tell and which one's I can't; of course I'll ignore it but maybe that will make you feel better." She took another step back and felt nothing.

Jason reached out quickly catching her.

"Thanks." She said smiling up at him, uh-oh he still looked upset.

"So you thought I wouldn't mind my sister hearing that story." He said then in a low voice. 

She knew she was in for it when she heard the tone of his voice, it was confirmed as she saw his eyes flick from her to the water. She wrapped her arms around his neck in self-preservation, if she was going in so was he, "You wanted me to cheer her up."

"So telling her how you made an ass out of me fits the bill?"

"I didn't make an ass out of you, in fact it was your ass we were talking about," Rory said cheekily she couldn't resist.

"Rory," he said with a groan pulling her arms from his neck.

She quickly turned to move away and he caught her from behind easily enough, his arms encircled her waist pinning her arms to her sides.

"So you and my sister were talking about my ass." He said softly.

"Well it's such a cute ass, especially when you had a butterfly tattoo on it." She said with a laugh, straining against his hold.

"And why was there a tattoo on my butt?" He picked her up.

"I don't know, they were just attracted to it I guess, I don't blame them I've always been fond of that part of your anatomy as well." She tried to break his grip, "Besides you didn't get to see it like I did, trust me Jason it would have been a great conversation piece."

"You put a tattoo of a butterfly on my butt while I was asleep and you call that a conversation piece?" He asked carrying her closer to the water.

"It was only a temporary one, besides didn't I do my best to chew that sucker off?" Rory asked on a laugh.

"You know I never did thank you properly for that did I?" He asked edging her over the water.

"Yes you did." Rory yelped more out of laughter than of concern, "Jason put me down."

"Worried?" He asked.

She studied the water and felt his grip shift he might do it, "Morgan stop it you put me down right now." She yelled.

"Yes Morgan, you better put the lady down and back away right now." The order came from behind them.

Jason tensed recognizing the voice, he brought Rory closer to him, allowing himself a brief moment to hold her before turning to face the man, "Taggert what do you want?" he asked shortly.


	16. Anger Boy v. Kojak

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 15

****

~Docks~

"Well, well, well if it isn't the much maligned Jason Morgan," Taggert said with a smile, rocking his head back and forth, "So how's anger boy these days?"

Jason said nothing and just looked at Taggert, he knew the man hated it, when he didn't speak. He felt Rory shift behind him, and unconsciously countered her movements with his body keeping her partially concealed from Taggert.

"Well I see, you still can't think and speak at the same time." Taggert taunted.

Jason could almost feel Rory's anger coming off of her. As much as he loved her temper he really hoped for once she keep her mouth shut. Taggert was easier to get rid of it you ignored him.

"So accosting women on the docks, it that what your doing for Corinthos these days?" Taggert pushed with a smile moving closer, one day he would find the trigger on Jason's temper and then he would have him. "That make's my job so much easier."

Jason stared at Taggert, "Is there a point to this?"

"Look it speaks," Taggert shook his head in amazement, "Well let's see if your brain damaged head can comprehend this, I'll speak slowly so I don't lose you."

Jason tilted his head to the side waiting for Taggert to continue, with a half smirk on his face.

"What you were doing to the young lady is at worse assault, and best attempted murder, oh yes today's going to be a good day." Tagggert said with a grin, barely controlling the urge to rub his hands together in anticipation of finally putting Jason away.

Jason stifled a groan he knew what was coming.

"Look Kojak I don't know what's in those lollipops of yours but you definitely got a bad one," Rory said loudly stepping clear of Jason.

Taggert's mouth dropped open and stared at her in shock, "Elizabeth you're dead." He stated in confusion.

Rory threw her hands up in disgust, "Remind me to move here when I want to start my criminal career." She said to Jason, "I will have no problem if these are the cops I have to deal with." She finished icily decimating Taggert with her eyes.

"I don't understand," Taggert said shaking his head trying to clear her image from his mind. He had gotten to know Elizabeth Webber pretty well, during her rape case and the Tom Baker incident. He had spoken to her on numerous occasions and seen countless photos of her, he had even partially attended her autopsy, so it made no sense that she was standing in front of him.

Jason glanced at Rory, who rolled her eyes at him, he quickly turned back to Taggert keeping his expression blank.

"Come on Jason, let's go, if we wait for him to have a coherent thought we will be here for weeks," Rory said slipping her hand in Jason's and pulling on him to make him move.

"Hold it Morgan," Taggert ordered sharply. The woman couldn't be Elizabeth but it didn't matter now, she was with Jason Morgan and that was enough to catch his interest. The fact that she looked like Elizabeth only heightened his concern for her safety and awakened a need to protect her from Morgan and Corinthos, before another innocent victim was caught in their cross-hairs.

Rory sighed heavily pausing, "What is it officer?"

"Lieutenant," Taggert corrected automatically, ignoring Rory's amused snort. "There is still the matter of anger boy here, trying to throw you off the dock."

"God how dense are you?" Rory asked ignoring the way Jason's hand tightened on hers in warning, "look you have obviously only been on the force for what an hour? If you can't learn the difference between teasing and an actual assault you won't make it a day."

"I saw anger boy here holding you over the water, and I heard you yelling at him to put you down," Taggert asserted stubbornly.

"Well clueless boy, you really need help then." Rory spouted back.

Jason let go of her hand and stepped in between Taggert and Rory, trying to head off her attack, "You heard it nothing happened," he said coldly before turning to leave.

"Hold it Morgan, here or at the station."

Jason stopped with a shake of his head and turned to stare at Taggert, angling his head, in a way the projected confusion. Taggert fell for it all the time.

"Yo Kojak, what is your name and badge number?" Rory asked digging in Jason's coat pocket for his notebook.

Taggert focused on her, noting the familiarity between the two, "Why?"

"Oh, I'm going to need if for when I file charges against you for harassment," Rory said pulling the pen from Jason's back pocket. "You intrude on a private conversation between two people, you constantly, belittle and insult one of the people, and when they decide to leave you threaten them with arrest. Let's see what that adds up to." She paused tapping the pen on her chin before smiling, "I know soon you'll be asking if you want fries with that."

Jason bit his lip to keep from smiling when Taggert's sneer vanished and a look of surprise crossed his face again. Maybe this wasn't so bad Jason thought settling in to enjoy the show.

"Miss will you come here for a minute?" Taggert asked taking a deep breath and gesturing to the bench behind him.

"Why?"

"Please," Rory shrugged and moved over to the him, "Morgan you wait right here." Taggert said with a glare, before moving over to the bench a few feet away.

Rory sat on the bench ignoring Taggert when he sat beside her. She could tell by the way Jason was holding himself that he was upset, she wanted this idiot cop gone, more for Jason's sake than for her own personal aversion to cops. So maybe, she told herself, if you shut up he would leave faster. It was just so hard when the perfect target was sitting beside her.

"Miss what is your name?" Taggert asked softly.

"Why don't you have a cute little nickname for me, officer?" Rory asked it was just not in her nature to cooperate with idiots, especially cops.

"Lieutenant." Taggert corrected, "Miss look at me," he said and waited.

Rory focused on him, "Nichols, my name is Rory Nichols." She said with a sigh, turning back to Jason.

"Look at me." Taggert said again, when she did he continued on softly, "Ms. Nichols, if you are afraid of Morgan, of what he might do to you if you tell the truth don't be. I can protect you from Morgan all you have to do is tell me the truth about what happened here." He smiled at her persuasively his dimples winking, "You will be safe I promise you."

Rory stared at him incredulous for a full five seconds before laughter erupted from her, the sound echoing around the docks, "You're going to protect me from Jason? Oh god that's rich," Rory gasped out finally.

"I'm serious," Taggert snapped.

Rory bit off a laugh, "Oh god I think you are," she said after studying him through tear filled eyes, "That's so…so pathetic."

Taggert glared at her, and put his hand on her arm to stop her when she rose to walk away.

Jason moved over then, "Let her go." He ordered coldly.

Taggert half smiled at Jason and raised his hand, his eyes going speculative when he got to his feet, this was new. Emotion from Jason Morgan, interesting, he may have found Jason's trigger.

Rory caught the shift in Taggert's eyes as he studied Jason and quickly acted, "Look officer there is no problem here, Jason never hurt me, nor would he ever hurt me, you just got your wires crossed."

"Look Morgan here is a dangerous criminal, a thug, a lap dog for Sonny Corinthos. He always gets the people around him hurt, while he walks off without a scratch. There is no need for you to try to protect him, he will only get you killed." Taggert snapped, focusing on her trying to get through.

"Oh you know that for a fact, that he is a dangerous criminal?" Rory asked her eyes cold.

"Yes."

"Then why isn't he in jail?" Rory paused waiting, "If you know so much why isn't he behind bars?"

"Oh he will be, there or in the morgue, it's only a matter of time. I just don't want to see you in the morgue along side of him." Taggert said coldly trying to shock her, "You know you wouldn't be the first girl he's gotten hurt, are you ready to die?"

"Taggert back off, if you want to talk someone talk to me, you don't talk to her like that." Jason said quickly stepping in front of Taggert so he was only a few inches from Taggert.

"That sound's like an order anger boy." Taggert said, yes she was Jason's trigger.

Rory interrupted, she knew Jason was getting angry, "So your so smart, so brilliantly capable, that it's only a matter of time before you get Jason is that what your telling me?"

Taggert kept his eyes locked on Jason's not wanting to break the staring contest first, "That's right."

"So as this what super cop? You're prepared for anything, any question and action your just omnipotent right?" Rory asked.

Jason kept his eyes on Taggert and waited for the punch, he knew Rory was setting him up.

"Anything, unlike anger boy here, I have the brain cells to comprehend things," Taggert taunted.

"Okay that's good to know, in fact it's great," Rory said shaking her head, "So what's one plus one?"

"What?" Taggert blinked and looked at her in confusion.

"Buzz. That's a wrong answer care to go to the next level where the points can really add up?" Rory jeered with a sneer.

Jason turned a laugh into a cough when he saw Taggert color.

"Now you listen here…"

"No, you listen to me," Rory interrupted her eyes blazing in fury, "You have wasted enough of my time with your inanity, your incompetence, and your stupidity. If you are an example of the boys in blue in this town, I am seriously concerned about staying here. So believe me when I tell you that if I ever need a cop in this town it sure as hell won't be you. Now leave us alone, or I will call 911 and report your ass. Somehow I doubt it will be first complaint against you."

Taggert assessed the woman before him and saw that she would back up her threat. He couldn't reach her now, with Morgan here, but there would be another time. Jason Morgan had finally revealed his weakness so it would only be a matter of time. Once he had Morgan he would have Corinthos, "Morgan we'll be seeing each other soon," Taggert said abruptly. "Rory I'm sure will be meeting again too," he said with a smile and then he turned and walked away.

Rory watched him walk away before, turning to look at Jason. Jason sighed wearily and scrubbed his hand over his eyes, "Rory," he said with a shake of his head.

"No, you cannot be mad at me," Rory said quickly.

"You should have just let him talk. He talks, I don't answer, he gets frustrated and leaves, it's quick and it's easy," Jason said putting one hand on his hip, using the other to gesture, "Now you've drawn his attention and curiosity to you, he'll be back now. Why didn't you just keep your mouth shut?"

"Don't do that to me," Rory said the hurt caused by his words visible in her eyes, "I will not stand by and let someone insult you. I don't care who they are, they will not do it in my presence. So don't you dare try to tell me not to, because I won't listen."

"Rory it's easier."

"I don't care I won't," Rory snapped, before taking a deep breath and crossing to him. She took his hands in hers before continuing. "When your alone, you can play that dance with Taggert anyway you want. It's your call, I don't care." She paused and stared at his hands, the way they seem to engulf hers, before looking back up at him, "But when I'm around he won't call you names, or treat you like that. I know it doesn't matter to you what he says, you probably don't even hear him, but it matters to me, I won't let anyone treat you like that, so don't try to make me."

Lucky walked around the corner of the docks and spotted the two below him on the docks, he quickly stepped back out of eyesight, but stayed within hearing range.

Jason sighed and bent his head resting it on hers, his hands tightening on hers, "It's just Taggert's going to focus on you now, I don't want him coming after you with all his crap about me."

"Let him. What do you think Taggert could tell me about you that I don't already know, or haven't guessed?" She asked, she felt him tense and cursed herself, his work was a subject that they avoided. "I mean," She said pulling back slightly so she could look into his eyes, "there is nothing, **nothing**, that Taggert or anyone could ever tell me that would make me turn on you." She paused, "And that Jason Morgan is my promise to you."

Jason studied her, "A promise from you? I thought you didn't make promises," he said with a smile.

"Yes a promise, and I've never broken a promise," Rory said seriously her eyes held his, she needed him to know how much she meant those words.

Jason ran his hand down her cheek, lightly stroking it, she leaned into his hand, "Jason don't you know by now how much you mean to me?"

Lucky heard her words and felt the punch of them in his gut he had to stop this. He looked around trying to find anything that could help him he smiled slightly when he noticed something directly across from him.

Jason kept his eyes on hers, was she finally going to tell him, her hand reached up to close over his holding it on her face. "Tell me." He said softly.

Rory was caught by the mesmerizing quality of his eyes, "Jason I lo…" She stopped when she heard a loud crash behind her.

Jason reacted instinctively, at the first sound he grabbed Rory, and pulled her behind him to shield her from whatever was causing the noise. His eyes focused on a trashcan as it rolled down the steps and passed in front of him. When Rory felt his grip on her arm slacken she moved up to stand beside him and watched the trashcan roll and pitch off the side of the dock with a splash.

"Well that's interesting," Rory said looking back up the steps to the empty landing. "I guess it was bath time."

Jason's eyes continued to scan the area, the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end, something was going on here, he could feel it.

She moved away from him to study the trashcan as it slowly disappeared in the murky water. Now she really was glad she hadn't made the trip into he water. She shook her head at the realization that she had a cop to be grateful to, now that was a new experience, she thought with a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Jason asked moving to stand beside her, his eyes flicking over to the landing.

"Well I'm finding myself in a strange situation. I'm grateful to a cop." She said with a shudder, "I don't like that, it messes up the natural order of things."

"What's the natural order?"

"Well to me cops have always been someone to be made fun of, harass, or avoid. So being grateful to one is decidedly unsettling." She pouted before turning to look at Jason, she poked him in the ribs, "And it's all your fault."

"Ow, why is it my fault?" He asked catching her hand before she could poke him again.

"Because if you hadn't been about to throw me in, Kojak would have had no reason to stop and harass us. Morgan you really need to learn how to take a joke."

"He would have stopped anyway, that's who he is. Why are you calling him Kojak?" Jason asked.

"Jason." Rory wailed putting her hands on her hips, "Don't you ever watch the boob tube? You know the show, _"Who love's ya baby?"_ She asked him in a singsong voice, groaning at his blank look. "You know you could check out TV Land occasionally instead of those travel books, you might learn something."

"So I'll learn stuff from TV and not books?" He asked her, scratching his chin, "That's a new one."

"Ugh, don't you have somewhere to be Morgan?" She moved over to the bench.

"Yes actually I do, but I wanted to ask you something first." He said sitting beside her.

"What?" She leaned against him.

"Do you want to have dinner with Sonny and Carly tonight? We were going to go to the No-Name."

Rory smiled, "Well food is always good for me, and dinner with Sonny and Carly sounds interesting." She said with a smile anticipating round three, "and how can I refuse an invite to the famous No-Name?"

"Good. Do you want to come with me now?"

"To where?" she asked settling her head on his shoulder.

"To meet my grandmother."

Rory jerked her head connecting with his jaw. Meet my grandmother the words ran through her mind, sending her nerves haywire. "Now?" she asked.

"Yes now," Jason said sharply rubbing his jaw. He watched her get to her feet and begin to pace in front of him, "I told you I was going to see her today."

"Uh, yeah you did." She said meekly her mind racing. Meeting Emily, Sonny and Carly was one thing, but meeting his grandmother now that was a scary thought. She knew he adored Lila Quartermain. She was the epitome of class in every since of the word, and who was she? She thought stopping her pacing her mind going off on a terrible tangent. She was a nobody, an orphan, who had no memories of her parents, who traveled from place to place with an uncle who was always on the grift, looking for the next bigger and better deal. She could spot a mark at fifty paces, his grandmother would take one look at her and sic the dogs on her.

"Rory." Jason got up, worried by her unnatural stillness and her paleness. He brought his hands up to cup her face, surprised to find it was now chilled when it had been warm only a few minutes ago, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She snapped, closing her eyes before going on in a lower tone, "I think you should see her by yourself today. She hasn't seen you since last August, and Emily told you she was missing you. I think it should be your day with her." She said with a distracted smile her brain racing she sucked in a breath and held it. I can't meet her looking like this, she thought and glanced down at her blue jeans and sweater, she would probably serve tea. She stifled a groan, God what do people wear to tea? A dress, a suit, a tiara? This was nuts, Lila was a lady and she was just a mutt, everything started to get darker. God she was out of her element here.

"Rory take a breath." Jason ordered shaking her slightly.

Automatically she obeyed, and thankfully the darkness receded. To think that a few minutes ago she was going to tell him she loved him, Rory snorted at the memory. What was she thinking? She wouldn't fit into his family's world, she had a GED and they did finishing schools. She closed her eyes saddened at the thought, she took a breath before she opened them again, "Sorry." She said softly.

"Where did you go?" He asked he could see the hurt and sadness in her eyes. What had he done wrong?

"Nowhere," Rory said quickly pulling away, he was hers now, and she was going to hold on to him for as long as she could.

"Rory come with me, I told you I wanted you to meet her. Lila, Emily, Monica and Ned are the only Quartemains that have ever even tried to know me."

"Jason I will meet her if that is what you want. I just think you need to see her first by yourself." She saw the argument in his eyes, and cut him off with the only weapon she had, "Besides she probably knew Elizabeth Webber, you don't want to spring me on her, with no warning."

Jason sighed and nodded, "You're right, but you will meet her." He said firmly, pulling her into a hug. He felt her arms tighten hard around him she clung to him a bit longer than usual. He wished he could read her better, sometimes he didn't have a clue as to what she was thinking.

With one final squeeze Rory stepped back, "Go on you don't want to keep her waiting, I'll meet you later at Jakes." She said with a smile trying to shove off her melancholy.

"Are you sure your okay?" Jason asked studying her.

"Yes, I'm hungry. You know me, if I go a few hours without food I get crazy. It's a good thing I have a fast metabolism or I would weigh 300 lbs.

Jason shoved his hands in his pockets, "You don't have to lie to me, not ever." He said quietly.

"I know." She said before standing on her tiptoes to kiss him, "So go already or you won't see your grandmother today."

"Okay." Jason said with a laugh when she began to shove him down the dock, "I'll see you later."

She watched him walk away before turning to study the water, she felt chilled all of a sudden without him there, and wrapped her arms around her waist. She knew it wasn't reasonable, it wasn't even logical, but she had this fear that his family wouldn't approve of her. She knew he was estranged from them, that their approval didn't mean anything to Jason, but she also knew that his grandmother's opinion did matter to him. 

She shook her head, it made more sense for her to be worried about Sonny and Carly's reaction to her, not the Quartemains, after all they were the family he had chosen, but the idea of meeting Lila Quartermain terrified her. Rory bowed her head against the wind, lost in thought.

"Are you okay?" Lucky's voice came from behind her.

Rory tensed, when she heard his voice, not now, she thought pulling herself out of her depressing thoughts and turning to face him. "L-lucky?" she asked in surprise he looked so different.

"Yes, it's me." Lucky said with a grin.

She studied the man in front of her, gone was the frosted spiky blond hair, instead it was a soft brown, and cut and styled in a decent way. He seemed taller too, and leaner it was almost like she was looking at a different person. She noticed a confident gleam in his eye that had been missing the other times she had seen him. "You look different."

"Yeah, well I feel different." Lucky said with a smile moving up beside her, to study the water, he noticed her shift slightly to increase the distance between them and deliberately kept his voice casual. "If you mean the hair, this in my natural shade, I have no idea why I went blonde I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time," He looked down at her and shrugged, "To tell you the truth I was drunk, I got that way a lot."

"Oh," Rory said feeling unsure of what she was supposed to do now.

Lucky stepped away from her and sat on the bench, her eyes followed his movements and noticed he was carrying a large black book.

"Well I should get going." She said heading away from Lucky.

"Wait." Lucky called after her, but made no move to get up to try and stop her.

"Why?" Rory stopped but didn't turn around.

"I would like to show you something, and try to explain some things to you." He said, holding his breath.

"Well I don't…"

"I won't touch you, you can leave anytime you want, I won't try to stop you. I just think you might understand better if you knew where I was coming from." He interrupted, focusing on her set shoulders he knew how stubborn she could be.

"Why would that make a difference to me?" She asked.

"Please." He had to get her to stay, "Unless you're afraid of me."

She turned around then to glare at him, "I'm not afraid of you."

He swallowed the smile, she was so like the Elizabeth he had first met all of those years ago, fearless and prickly, "Then why not stay?"

"Because I…"

"Did Jason order you not to?" Lucky interrupted again.

"Of course not, Jason doesn't tell me what to do, no one tells me what to do." She snapped moving closer to Lucky.

"So stay then," Lucky said with a smile patting the bench beside him, "I dare you," he taunted.

Her eyes lit and she looked at the man on the bench and the book he was holding. Sighing she made up her mind, she hoped she wasn't going to regret this. She moved over and dropped on the bench beside him, "So talk Spencer."


	17. Doubts and strangers

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 16

****

~Docks~

"Spencer?" Lucky asked with a sigh of relief when she sat down beside him on the far edge of the bench.

"Well it's hard to wrap my head around the name Lucky. Lucky is the name of a dog, not a person." Rory answered, wondering if she could get any farther away from him. If she pressed any further into the railing, she would have indentions in her ass for days.

"Okay well let's try this then, Hi, I'm Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, Jr.," Lucky said extending his hand.

She crinkled her nose, and studied him before briefly taking his hand, "Okay Lucky what do you want."

"You know Elizabeth had a problem with my name at first." He told her with a smile.

__

"So what's your name?" Elizabeth asked, cocking her head to study him.

"Lucky." He answered briefly.

"Lucky, we'll see." She said with a coy smile.

"Well that's original," Rory said dryly.

"So's Elizabeth," Lucky murmured quietly.

Rory tensed at the tense of the word he used. Like he thought Elizabeth was still alive and sitting next to him right now. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

He picked up on her unease and quickly went on, opening the book on his lap, "Here's a picture of Elizabeth, it was taken not long after she moved here." 

She glanced at the picture but made no effort to move closer to him.

"Everyone called her Lizzie, short for Lizzie the terrible." He mused with a soft smile, "but I always said Elizabeth. Elizabeth had run away from Colorado, and crash landed on the doorstep of her gram's house where her sainted sister lived." He said turning another page in the book.

"Sister?" Rory asked moving a little closer trying to see the pictures in the book.

"Yeah, Sister Sarah." He said in a sing-song voice, "Elizabeth always meant it as a sort of nunnery slam on Sarah."

"Elizabeth's sister was a nun?" Rory asked shifting closer to study the photograph. The blonde girl in the miniskirt definitely didn't look like a nun, "She doesn't look like one."

Lucky laughed, "No Sarah wasn't a nun, she was just perfect, at least in the eyes of her family and of most of the people in town. Elizabeth always felt slighted because of that, like she was never good enough." He shifted the book, so it was partially on her lap, she was so close now he could smell the vanilla scent of the shampoo she used.

She touched the book, and turned back a page to study the teenage version of Elizabeth, no Lizzie she corrected herself. She swallowed a groan, Lizzie, wasn't that who Emily said she reminded her of. Oh this just kept getting better and better.

Rory shook her head looking at the photograph of the girl in a halter-top and miniskirt that looked exactly like her. She was relieved now that Jason had shown her a picture of Elizabeth, that way she was prepared. Or as prepared as she could be. She studied the photograph of Lizzie, there was something different about this photograph compared to the one she had seen earlier. It was more than the style of dress, she couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something different.

"So was it love at first sight for you two?"

"No, I was gone over Sarah, I was to busy thinking about her to realize that Elizabeth liked me."

She flipped the page to study Sarah Webber, she was the typical blue-eyed blonde she looked cute, sweet and very bland. "So what you wised up and threw her over for Lizzie?" She asked looking up at Lucky in surprise when he laughed.

"No unfortunately for me Sarah only saw me as a friend." He said remembering, he got up from the bench to cross to the water and study Spook Island, "Sarah was nuts over the Cassa-Creep."

"The Cassa-Creep?" Rory asked.

"Nikolas."

"Your brother? You call him the Cassa-Creep?" She was surprised they had seem pretty close.

He was quiet for a minute, "I did then, I had only learned of his existence the year before, and my dad." He stopped, "Well my dad had convinced me that all Cassadines were the devil incarnate. I wasn't that hard to convince, I was jealous of him." He shrugged and turned back to face her, "But with Elizabeth's help and a lot of time, I got to discover my brother."

Elizabeth, Rory thought he always circles back to Elizabeth. I wonder if he is even aware he does that. She studied the book, and turned another page. Elizabeth was there surrounded by tall, blonde, people, and she looked decidedly out of place, with her looks and her expression. She was the only one not smiling.

"The Webber family." He sat beside her again, "Elizabeth always felt like she didn't belong."

"Well there isn't much resemblance." She admitted, uneasily there was something about the smiles of that Stepford like family that was getting to her.

"No."

"So how did Lizzie convince you to forget Sister Sarah?" She asked bracing herself and turning another page.

"She didn't really, I really only considered her a friend, a slightly annoying friend who had a knack for getting in trouble. Elizabeth was a friend that you never knew what she was going to do or say next, but a friend nevertheless. I didn't know that Elizabeth was thinking of me as more than a friend."

"That must have hurt her, if she liked you and you liked the perfect sister," Rory said looking at him, "especially for what a 15 – 16 year old?"

"I know I must have hurt Elizabeth a lot." Lucky agreed.

"I have to say, that the image of Lizzie, does not fit the Elizabeth everyone, including you, have been describing to me." She observed flipping the page, to see yet another picture of Elizabeth and Lucky, this time they were in formal clothes, standing before a banner that said Nurses Ball 1998.

"Well what changed Elizabeth, and what brought us together both came from the same experience." He shifted on the bench so he faced her.

She shivered involuntarily, his eyes had darkened and his face looked drawn, as if he was remembering something painful. For some reason she didn't want him to go on, she didn't want to hear whatever he was going to say.

"We got close after." Lucky paused not wanting to do this to her, but knowing he had to, "After she was raped."

Rory paled the ugly word rape echoed in her head.

****

~GH~

"Are you sure a biopsy is necessary?" Dr. Monica Quartermaine asked.

"I'm sorry Monica but yes it is, the growth was confirmed by the second mammogram. You know as well as I do that the sooner we know what were dealing with the sooner we can help you." Dr. Ellen Meadows said briskly, keeping her tone professional while looking in the face of her old friend.

"Of course, then I'll have the biopsy," Monica said her mind reeling at the possibility of her cancer returning. She had passed the five-year anniversary and she had allowed herself to believe that the danger had passed. It was foolish and now she was paying for it.

"Have you told Alan yet?"

"No, and I don't plan to. I don't want to worry him, if it turns out to be nothing." On this point Monica was sure, she could not handle the histrionics of her family right now.

"Monica, you need your family more than ever at a time like this," Ellen pressed.

"No."

With a sigh Ellen got up, "I have arranged the appointment at the clinic in two days like you requested. It will be at 8:00 a.m., you know the drill no food or drink."

Monica wrote the information down on a loose piece of paper, "You'll be there right?"

"Yes. Monica if you change your mind…"

"Hi Mom," Emily said walking into the office, "Oh sorry, I can come back later."

"No stay Emily, we were done here," Monica said immediately, smiling at her daughter, "I'll walk you out Ellen."

Emily sat in the chair and pulled some notebooks out of her bag, putting them on the desk while she dug in her bag for gum.

"So what brings you by?" Monica asked heading to her desk.

"I wanted to tell you that Jason is in town," Emily said.

"He is," Monica smiled she missed her son so much. She could still remember the last time she had seen him alone, he had told her he loved her. She would never tire of hearing those words.

"Yes, he was going to see grandmother today and I'm sure he'll track you down as well. He says he's going to be in town for awhile."

Monica smiled, it would be so good to see Jason, especially now. With that thought the smile vanished, and her mood plummeted.

"Mom you okay? You kind of zoned out on me there," Emily asked, looking concerned.

"Sorry, woolgathering I guess," Monica said pasting on a fake smile, "So how is he?"

"He's good Mom, I wanted to tell you that he didn't come back alone," Emily stopped wondering how much to tell her, "he brought his girlfriend with him."

"He has a girl with him?" Monica asked surprised, the last girl she had seen him with was Carly, the only one before that was Robin.

"Yes and wait until you see her…"

"Dr. Monica Quartermaine to E.R. Dr. Monica Quartermaine to E.R., stat."

"Sorry," Monica said heading for the door.

"No problem," Emily said grabbing her papers off the desk and stuffing them in her bag, before following her mother out of the room.

****

~Docks~

"She was raped?" Rory asked quietly triggering her own memory. She paled remembering strong hands holding her down, the weight of a man pressing into her. She shook the memory away and focused on Lucky who seemed lost himself.

"It was the Valentines Day Dance at school, Elizabeth had asked me if I wanted to hang out with her at the dance. I told her yes, she was my friend, and it would be cool to be there with a friend, it wasn't a date, at least not to me." Lucky began quietly his voice barely audible over the water lapping against the dock.

"The day of the dance Sarah asked me to go with her, not as a friend but as her date." His face twisted into a sneer at the memory, "I thought I had been given the holy-grail, I had been crazy about her since I met her and she was finally looking back. She had tired of the Cassa-creep and wanted me. So I had a choice to make, go with Sarah or hang out with Elizabeth." He shook his head and looked at her, "Who do you think I chose?"

"Sarah." Rory said quietly.

"You bet." He said shaking his head, "I went and found Elizabeth to ask her that since it wasn't a date was it okay if I brought someone with me." He stopped, "It's a wonder she didn't slap me then. I don't know how many times after that night I prayed she would have, then this would have all been avoided." 

He got up and moved to the edge of the docks, "But no not Elizabeth, she hid the hurt, and sold me some story about going with some jock, Chad Rundel. I bought it, no actually I chose to believe it, because my mind was already locked on Sarah."

He was quiet then lost in the memories of that awful Valentines Day. Rory sat on the bench, her eyes flicking from the photograph of Lizzie to the man in front of her.

He shook his head, "The date with Sarah was a disaster, she spent the whole night talking about Nikolas, I found myself missing the fun I knew I would have had with Elizabeth. She had never showed up at the dance, and I was worried, I saw Chad Rundel and asked him, but he didn't even know who she was. I left Sarah and went to look for her, see I knew something was wrong, I just woke up to that fact, to damn late."

Lucky stuffed his hands in his pockets, and concentrated on the water to get through the memories that were waiting for him. "I remember it was cold that night, we had had some snow a few days before and it was still on the ground. I cut through the park. I remember that I was thinking about Sarah, and the way she had acted. I was blowing on my hands to warm them as I walked by some bushes, when I heard a moan and noises coming from then, I stopped and turned around."

__

Lucky turned and saw a woman, crawling out of the bushes, "Who's there?" he called, his eyes widening in horror, when she looked up at him as she heard his voice. It was Elizabeth, her big brown eyes locked on his, full of fear, and pain. He could see the smudges under her eyes from her tears and he could hear her moans as she tried to crawl free of the bushes.

He started towards her, his mouth trying to say her name, she moaned again and he found his voice "Oh my God! What the hell happened to you?" Lucky asked crouching beside her, "Elizabeth are you okay?" he asked reaching for her.

Elizabeth cowered away from him, shaking even harder, He lowered his voice and tried again, "It's me Lucky."

"She was so scared, I could feel it coming off of her. She tried to stand and I caught her. She finally let me help her, she was bruised, beaten, and she was babbling that she couldn't get her shoe on." He blinked away the tears those memories awoke in him.

Rory sat there on the bench, she couldn't help but feel for the girl in the picture. She flipped from the picture of Lizzie to a later one of Elizabeth, now she knew part of the reason why they seemed so different. She could see the change in the girl's eyes. She could almost see where one person ended and the other began. She looked back at Lucky when he began to speak again.

"I tried to calm her down, to help her, I fought back my own anger and tried to help."

__

"I can fix that," Lucky said trying to put her shoe on, only to stop when he saw the blood on her legs. He sucked in a breath, and asked tensely, "Tell me who did this to you."

Elizabeth shifted on the bench, shaking, her eyes darting around, she pulled on the strap of her dress, "I-I don't know."

"To this day Elizabeth's eyes from that night haunt me. She looked bad, bruised and muddy with blood on her legs." He turned to face the woman he knew was Elizabeth and told her about the worst night of her life, "her dress was ripped she had one shoe in her hand. The worse thing though was her eyes, they looked like something so awful had happened, and they just couldn't bear to know it."

Lucky moved over and sat down on the bench, "That look stayed in Elizabeth's eyes for a very long time. Elizabeth was strong though, so very strong. I helped Elizabeth and she helped me together we got past the rape. Elizabeth said once that that was the night Lizzie the terrible died. I promised I would take care of her."

__

"I will take care of you," Lucky vowed looking up into her vacant eyes while she sat there on the bench. He made up his mind then and there that nothing or no one would ever hurt her again.

"I will take care of you," Lucky repeated softly.

Rory shifted on the seat and took his hand to offer some comfort, her heart was breaking for the girl and the man beside her, and he obviously still felt guilty over that night.

Lucky quickly grasped her hand with his other hand, keeping it on his as he stared at her.

She shifted again his stare was making her uncomfortable. She looked again at the photo, and quickly caught another thing with it that bothered her. "I thought you said her eyes were brown, their blue in these pictures." 

"They are brown, the rape happened before Elizabeth started wearing contacts." Lucky answered.

"Contacts?" Rory repeated.

"Yeah, colored contacts. You know like you have." He said tightening his hand on hers, when he looked into her blue eyes.

****

~Quartermaine's~

Jason pulled his bike off on the side of the road and cut up through the gate to the back of the house, he jumped the low border wall and kept moving quickly if he hurried he could probably catch her while she was still alone. He moved past the windows cautiously and peered through the patio doors into the sitting room. He saw her sitting there, she was still alone, he pushed the doors open and walked into the room.

"Jason, oh my dear," Lila cried her eyes lighting as soon as she saw him, she stretched her hand out to him.

"Grandmother," Jason said with a smile taking her hand and kissing her cheek, sitting on the coffee table in front of her.

"Oh my dear, I have missed you so," Lila said clutching his hand.

"I have missed you to Grandmother," Jason said studying her, she still looked beautiful as ever. Her eyes overflowing with love for him, she was the first person he had ever loved, and one of the few who had never let him down in any way.

"Now I know why Emily has seemed happier these last few days." Lila said.

"Yes, I've seen Emily."

Reginald paused just inside the door he had heard Lila speaking and went to check on her. He could see how happy she looked and quietly closed the door to give them privacy, and he went off to waylay the rest of the Quartermaines. He wanted to give Lila as much time as possible with Jason.

"Good maybe you can find out what is troubling her, she won't tell me," Lila said, "she never could keep a secret from you."

Jason smiled, "I'll try."

"My dear, are you staying around this time?"

"I'll be here for awhile Grandmother," He replied honestly but evasively.

"Good," Lila said observing her grandson, there was something different about him, something she hadn't seen before "Jason are you alright? You seem different."

"Different how?"

"You seem relaxed, happy, you're smiling more." Lila paused before smiling, "Oh my darling are you in love?"

He shifted on the coffee table, "How do you know that?"

"Jason it's in your eyes, your face, oh I am so happy for you. I am glad you are not alone anymore. Is it the same woman from last summer?"

He stared at Lila, "How did you know about her last summer?"

Lila smiled and patted his hand, "My dear you may think you are the only one who can read people, but I've been observing them for decades. There was a change in you even then."

"Did anyone else notice?" He asked abruptly not liking the fact his feelings were obvious.

"No. Oh don't worry you were still your usual taciturn self." She said quickly to reassure him, "Do I get to meet her?"

"Yes, she came with me this time, I want you to meet her." Jason said.

"That's wonderful, why didn't you bring her with you today?"

"I tried, she said that today should be a day for just the two of us." He broke off remembering her peculiar behavior. He studied Lila, and something occurred to him that might explain it, "I think she's afraid of meeting you."

"Why?" She asked surprised.

"I don't know, I've told her about you. I know you will love her you won't be able to help it. I don't know sometimes when I'm with her I can read her like a book and other times I don't have a clue." Jason said rubbing his neck.

Lila laughed, "That is the privilege of being a woman, we take great delight in confusing the men in our lives, especially the men were in love with," She laughed again at his frown, "Tell me about her."

"Well she's different from anyone I have ever met before. She's alone in the world, except for her uncle, but at the same time she's not. She draws people to her so easily. She disarms them, and turns them into friends, I don't think anyone remains a stranger to her for long, unless of course she doesn't like them. If she doesn't like you she makes no secret of it. She refuses to sugar coat anything." He began to prowl the room, he never felt comfortable in this house.

"You feel comfortable with her, even though she is quite sarcastic. She's smart, and she's funny. The way she looks at the world is so different, I can't wait to hear what she say next. In fact whatever she does say usually surprises me. I love to hear her think."

"She sounds special." Lila said determined to meet the young woman who had captured her grandson's heart.

"She is special. I laugh so much when I am with her, and I feel a little lost when I'm not. I smile so much, she says I am developing a sense of humor late in life," Jason said with a shake of his head, "I don't know about that, I just know she touches me in a way that I have never have been touched before."

"Oh my dear I am so happy for you, especially after hearing you describe her, I know she must be special." Lila said holding out her hand for him.

"Why?" He asked taking her hand to settle in front of her again.

"Because the whole time you were describing her you never mentioned her looks. When I told you to tell me about her, that was what you did. You told me about the woman you knew, not the woman you see. I couldn't be more pleased."

Jason considered that, Rory was beautiful there was no denying that. But even her expressive face couldn't express everything that was inside of her. Her eyes could dance, with humor, passion, even sadness, but they couldn't contain her spirit. Her smile lit up his world, but it was only a starting point. What made Rory so beautiful was everything about her, "Well she is beautiful Grandmother, it's just she's not limited to just being beautiful. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, my dear it does. I am so happy that you have someone again. I know you were in love with Robin, but it was so new to you, and she hurt you terribly. I know you loved Carly too, but I don't think you were ever in love with her, and I'm afraid she hurt you too. I was so afraid that you wouldn't seek out love again. I am so happy you did." Lila said softly.

"I didn't seek it out, I wasn't even aware it was happening. I just walked into a bar, and there she was. I didn't know she was going to change my life." He said softly.

"I see you now, this man before me who is in love, and I couldn't be more pleased. Well I will be pleased once I meet her. You'll bring her here, I will have cook prepare a special meal."

"I'd like that, but…"

"Reginald and I will arrange for the family to be away, so we will do it then." Lila said briskly cutting him off.

Jason shrugged he knew better than to try to argue with her, there was an iron fist in those frail hands of hers, "Okay."

"Good we'll do it tomorrow, at 1:00. Edward will be at the club, and the others will be gone, I will see to it."

"Grandmother there's something I need to explain to you about Rory before you meet her." Jason said taking her hand again.

"Rory? Is that her name? It's lovely."

"Yes, about Rory, there might be a problem, I wanted to warn you that…"

"Reginald, you infernal idiot, look what you have done to my suit." Edward Quartermaine's voice came clearly through the closed door.

Jason quickly got to his feet and kissed Lila on the cheek, it was definitely time to leave. He was not in the mood to deal with the old man, "I will talk to you later."

"Jason must you? I know Edward would love to see you. I know he doesn't show it but he loves you so." Lila asked looking up at him.

"No thanks." Jason said quickly heading for the doors, he let himself out the patio doorsat the same time Edward entered the room, followed by Reginald.

"Lila do you know what this fool did, he accosted me in the hall, and spilled a drink on me, trying to stop me from coming in here." Edward looked at Reginald who had crossed to Lila, "You're fired."

"I don't work for you." He leaned close to Lila, "Sorry I tried to stop him," he whispered straightening the blanket on her wheelchair.

Lila patted his hand "Thank you Reggie."

"Thank you Reggie, that man is a menace, I will not be treated like this in my own house." Edward blustered shaking his hand.

"It's Dr. Quartermaine's house," Reginald said.

"You…"

"Oh Edward, put a sock in it." Lila said moving her wheelchair out of the room.

Jason shook his head, the old man would never change, he thought as he made his way away from the house.

****

~Docks~

Rory pulled her hand from Lucky's hold, edging further away from him, her mind replaying his words. She realized then that when he talked about Elizabeth, he always said her name, he never said her or she. It was like he was consciously saying Elizabeth, trying to lead her to the conclusion that he was talking about herself. Rory shook her head it was time to leave.

"Anyway I promised to take care of Elizabeth and that is what I did. At the same time though, Elizabeth took care of me too. Not long after the rape, my own life went to hell." Lucky smiled bitterly, "A long buried secret exploded, and destroyed my family, and it almost destroyed me too. Elizabeth was the reason I got past it. So as much as I helped Elizabeth, Elizabeth helped me more."

"That's good, I'm glad **she** was there for you, and you were there for **her**," Rory said stressing the pronouns.

"Elizabeth, heart is so strong and big, she could help anyone."

"It **was**." Rory said.

"What?"

"I said her heart was big but she is dead now," Rory said her eyes locking on his, "You know that right? You keep talking about her like she is alive, but you know she's dead right?"

He held her gaze, he needed to tread carefully, he didn't want to spook her, "I'm just describing Elizabeth, you see I know Elizabeth better than anyone in this world, the same way Elizabeth knows me."

"**Knew**." She said sharply, "You knew her. She is dead."

"I know that Elizabeth felt like she was second best, for most of her life. I know that her smile brightened my world."

She flipped through the pages of the book, they were full of Elizabeth and Lucky. There they were in formal wear and casual, kissing, smiling, and laughing. She was looking at someone else's life, and it was making her uncomfortable. Especially when she realized that despite what Lucky had said earlier, he still considered her as the woman who played the starring role in his life. That he still thought she was Elizabeth.

She shoved the book in his hand and got up from the bench, she took a few steps away before turning on him, "I know that that we look alike, and I have no clue why. I know that this is hard for you to handle, but I am not her. Do you get that? Elizabeth is dead I am not her. Is this sinking in yet?" She asked when he got up to face her.

"I know you're confused, I know you're scared, I'm just trying to explain, about Elizabeth and me. How our connection was formed and how strong it is, I'm just trying to get you to understand," He said, risking her anger by taking her hand again.

"Understand what?" She snapped, patience gone.

"That I would know Elizabeth anywhere, even if Elizabeth didn't know herself." He said softly.

****

~Warehouse~

Sonny tapped his fingers on the desk waiting for her to pick-up.

__

"What?" Carly snapped as she grabbed the phone, tucking it between her head and shoulder.

"Well hello to you too." Sonny said dryly.

__

Her eyes widened guiltily, she let the tape measure fly closed with a snap, "Damn," she said when it caught her finger.

"What's wrong?" Sonny asked.

__

"Oh nothing, I just jammed my finger. So what's up?"

"I wanted to see if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight. I tried to catch you at Deception, but you had already left. So what are you doing?" Sonny asked leaning back in his chair.

__

Carly glanced around his sacred kitchen, "Nothing, I just had some errands to run," she said quickly, tucking the tape measure in her bag.

"Carly," Sonny began.

__

"So where are we eating?" Carly cut him off.

He sighed, "The No Name, are you up for that?"

__

"The No Name," Carly repeated quietly, "Are you sure?" Every time they had plans to go to the No Name something bad had happened. She had yet to see the place.

"Yes, it's time for our luck to change." Sonny said smiling at himself, well maybe not, "I've invited Jason and Rory to go with us. So what do you think?"

__

She thought about it, if he was willing to tempt the fates by going to the No Name she would too, besides she was anxious to see Jason and Rory together. Not to mention the fact she was ready for another round with Rory, this time on equal footing, "Okay."

"Good, I'll be home soon." He said.

__

Her eyes sparked when she looked at a magazine on the counter, no time like the present to start her plan, "You know I was looking in some magazines and I saw the most amazing kitchen design."

"Really," Sonny said opening a folder on the desk.

__

"Yes, it was gorgeous, it featured this design that had a free range and oven in an island in the room, with it's own unique lighting system over it. There was also a place for the pans over the island. It looked so good, it freed up a lot of counter space. It's to bad you don't have something like that, it would probably help your cooking."

"There's nothing wrong with my kitchen," Sonny said testily.

__

"Oh I never said there was baby." She said with a smile, "You were the one that mentioned that you wanted another oven to work with, and some more burners, because there were some dishes you wanted to try but couldn't with the kitchen the way it is. Never mind, I know that whatever you cook it will be good, I just was thinking of how your creativity is stifled in this kitchen. Don't worry about it, will just keep eating the dishes you usually make." She finished biting her lip when she heard him suck in a breath.

"You make it sound like I can't cook in **my** kitchen," Sonny said sharply getting up from his desk, "You got a problem with my food?"

__

"No Sonny of course not, it's just if you want to limit your creativity because of the limited facilities you have available it's your own choic," She said quickly, she knew she had him hooked, now all she had to do was reel him in slowly.

Sonny frowned out the window, she was insulting his capabilities, no she was insulting his kitchen, where he made his masterpieces. He rubbed his hand over his jaw, sometimes it was tight in there, and he knew he had mentioned it to her before. She was just thinking of him, "Maybe you can leave those magazines out," He said finally.

__

Carly spun around in a circle in the empty kitchen; yes she had him. He would get a new kitchen and she would remodel the room behind the kitchen that Jason used to stay in at the same time. He would get a new kitchen, and she would have a pool room. She smiled, that pool table was as good as hers, "Okay I will," she said sweetly.

Sonny heard her tone, but before he could respond he saw something on the docks that worried him. He covered the mouthpiece of the phone with his hand, "Johnny," he yelled.

"Yes?" Johnny asked opening the door.

"Rory's on the docks, with Lucky Spencer, get there and get him away from her." Sonny snapped, "Now."

"Right boss," Johnny said and quickly left the room.

__

"Sonny are you there?" Carly asked.

"Yeah, look be ready by 8:00 okay," Sonny said looking at the docks, where he saw Lucky grab Rory's hand, "Shit." He muttered.

__

"What?" Carly asked.

"Nothing, I got to go, be home soon." He said hanging up on her to watch the scene on the dock.

"Sonny? Well fine." She closed her phone and left the kitchen she placed the magazines on his desk. Why would it matter if Lucky were with Rory? She wondered crossing to the stairs. "Who cares?" she said, she needed to get ready, and tonight she was going to look fabulous.

****

~Docks~

"Lucky." Rory snapped exasperated and tugged her hand away.

"I know Elizabeth, I know how she worries her bottom lip when she's thinking or is troubled," Lucky said, ignoring the anger in her gaze.

"Well I don't do that." She said crossing her arms, so he wouldn't grab her hand again.

"Elizabeth babbles when she nervous. That's when she is most honest too, she can't seem to help or stop what flies out of her mouth."

She shifted her stance, "Lot's of people babble, it doesn't mean anything. Besides if she was your wonderful girlfriend, you would think you could come up with something a bit more compelling or insightful than that. I mean is that the best you have, a big heart, and inferiority complex, a bottom lip, and babbling, jeez that's pathetic."

He smiled at her babble, "Elizabeth is an artist, she worries sometimes that she isn't good enough, but she has so much talent. Elizabeth was accepted at an art academy in New York.

"Well there is another difference, I can't draw a straight line with a ruler." She said getting pissed with Lucky, he seemed so confident that she was Elizabeth, that if he told her enough things that she would suddenly admit to being his dead girlfriend he was in for a rude awakening.

He saw the anger and dare in her eyes, she was so sure that there was nothing he could say that she couldn't explain away. "Elizabeth has a little scar on the index finger of her left hand, that looks like half of a wishbone." He noticed her curling her hand in a fist to hide her fingers, "She got it when the neighbor's poodle went insane and bit her."

Rory said nothing he could have just seen the scar on her finger and made up his own story, she had no idea if Elizabeth had a scar there or not, and he knew that.

"Elizabeth also has a surgical scar there," He gestured to her side, "She got it when her appendix was removed when she was 11."

She turned to look at the water, her arms wrapping around her waist while Lucky continued on, her nerves were jumping uneasily at his words. "Elizabeth can't clear her throat all the way. She tries but she always hiccups at the end, it drives her crazy."

She jolted but kept her back to Lucky.

"Elizabeth loves raspberries, she has spent hours mixing paints trying to capture the color of them. She said she loves them so much because she can't have them. She's allergic, she breaks out in hives." Lucky said tentatively reaching out for her.

Rory whirled around the anger apparent in her eyes, "Where's her tattoo?"

"What?" surprised Lucky stopped mid-movement, "Elizabeth doesn't have a tattoo."

"Well she may not, but **I**, Rory Nichols." She tapped her chest, "Have a tattoo on my body. Jason knows where it is. You see he has seen **me** naked repeatedly. You may know Elizabeth's body, but he knows mine." She moved in closer to him, not caring about the hurt she saw in his eyes or the way his skin had paled. "You see he knows where my tattoo, he knows what I like, you see he knows **me** Rory Nichols, the same way you say you knew Elizabeth Webber."

Rory backed off slightly before continuing, "I know that you loved her and you miss her. But I got to tell you, you can tell me about her forever, you can describe every minute you ever spent with her, and it won't matter. I will never be her, I have no desire to be her." She finished, moved past him and started heading up the stairs.

"Elizabeth has a birthmark." He said jerkily, pushing past the hurt, he saw her pause and continued, "It's high on her right hip, it looks like a lightning bolt. I used to tell her that that was where god touched her to make her perfect for me."

She continued up the stairs and turned the corner away from him and the docks, she could feel his eyes on her the whole way.

Lucky let out a sigh he knew he had reached her, he could tell from her reactions that everything he said was true. He smiled and picked up the book off the bench, before moving on down the dock. He had laid the foundation, she was going to start questioning, Elizabeth was too curious not too. He had to get to the No Name it was time to keep the pressure on, he thought beginning to whistle.

Johnny ran to the spot they had been standing just a few minutes before, he could see Lucky walking away from him alone. He glanced around for Rory before turning back to look at the warehouse, neither of his bosses were going to be happy about this.

Rory walked calmly around the corner and out of sight when she didn't hear him behind her, she stopped and sagged against the wall of a building, "How did he know that?" She asked letting the fear and confusion out. "It doesn't make sense." She brought her hand up to rub her eyes, and was dismayed to see that it was trembling, "Get a grip," she ordered herself loudly, before moving on to her car.

The man who watched the whole exchange stepped out from the shadows, he glanced down at Lucky when he heard him start whistling, then back up at his charge as she almost ran to her car. He pulled out his phone watching her as he dialed a number.

"It's Marin, we may have a problem. She just had another run in with Lucky Spencer, he shook her up." Marin said and then paused listening.

"Spencer seems confident," he paused again, "No. So far Morgan hasn't made any moves."

"Okay, I'll keep you informed," He said after a pause, closing his phone, before moving to follow Rory.


	18. Thinking logically

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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****

What If…

Chapter 17

****

~Jakes~

Rory slammed the door of her and Jason's room shut and leaned against it with a groan. Her mind kept replaying the conversation with Lucky over and over, like a record stuck in a groove. She had driven around for over an hour and his voice was still inside her head. 

"Enough!" She cried in disgust shrugging out of her coat to prowl around the room. "Lot's of people have the same quirks it doesn't mean anything."

She paused to fiddle with the hairbrush on the dresser, "I can't be the only person in the world who can't clear their throat. Right?" she asked her reflection in the mirror.

"Jeez, get a grip," Rory ordered herself falling facedown on the bed, and burying her head in the spicy scent of Jason that clung to his pillow.

"Okay, let's think about this logically." She sat up and leaned against the headboard, clutching the pillow to her chest. "I know I am not Elizabeth Webber. I know that because I didn't just appear two years ago, I have very specific memories, therefore I could not possibly be Elizabeth, right?" She glanced around the empty room.

"Great I'm talking to myself again," She said with a groan, burrowing her face in the pillow. So how exactly did Lucky know about her birthmark?

"Cameras!" She said with a start jumping off the bed. "The little bastard bugged our room." Her eyes flicked around the room for any obvious signs of electronics.

"Right Nichols, he bugged the room, that's why he knew about your birthmark but not your tattoo, which is impossible and you know it." Rory sneered sitting back on the bed. Damn'it she hated being logical. She sighed and laid back down on the bed.

"God!" She cried a few minutes later, "I have to stop slipping into blonde mode," she cursed herself and grabbed her bag to dig inside of it, only to frown as she came up empty.

"Now if I were an address book, where would I be?" Rory wondered glancing around the small room. "Let's see I had it in my hand when I called Caryn last night, then Jason got out of the shower and…" She broke off and went to the dresser and tugged on the corner of it pulling it away from the wall. "Eureka! So that's where it landed when he…" she made a mental note to call Caryn, she ended the call rather abruptly, smiling at the memory she crossed to the phone.

Life with Jason was such an adventure she thought with a laugh while she listened to the phone ring, damn, machine. She drummed her fingers on the desk while she waited for the beep.

"Gabe are you there?" Rory asked, "Hello paging Uncle Gabe, it's your favorite niece." She paused, "Well I just wanted to tell you, you know those numbers I always play, well they came in last night to the tune of $2 million, so…"

__

"Hello, Rory good to hear from you."

Rory smiled, he was so predictable, "Why Uncle Gabe you are there."

__

"Yes, I just got in, I heard your message that's great."

Rory could picture him, his dark eyes glazed over with the thought of all that money heading in his direction, she almost felt sorry for him, almost. "Well the thing is Gabe, I forgot to buy a ticket." She said climbing on the desk and waited for his meltdown.

__

"What!" Gabe shrieked into the phone, collapsing with a groan into his chair. "Tell me you didn't do that Bonnie," 

"Sorry Clyde," Rory said with a laugh, "besides you don't need it yet do you? I thought the Countess was taking care of you."

__

"Well she was until," Gabe broke off with a disgusted sigh when he looked at the stack of bills on his desk, damn $2 mil would have come in handy.

"Until, what? Her hubby came home?"

__

"No the hubby didn't have a problem with me, it was her girlfriend that did. It was interesting for a while and then she told the Countess to get rid of me, women." Gabe said lighting a cigarette.

She laughed her uncle would never change, "Well didn't you get some nice parting gifts, besides the exploits I have no desire to hear about?"

__

"Yep some," Gabe said studying the solid gold Rolex on his arm, "So what do you want?"

"Man, can't a girl call her only relative without wanting anything?"

__

"No." His answer was succinct and to the point, "What do you want?"

"Okay, I wanted to know what storage unit the pictures are in," She said twisting the phone cord in her hand she had been thinking about this. She figured the only reason she got so wigged was because of those photographs that Spencer had, so if she came up with some of her own pictures, it would get him off her back.

__

"What pictures?"

"Pictures of me, with mom and dad, one's with you, school pictures, junk like that, what unit are they in?"

__

His hand tightened on the beer bottle, "Why what's the interest now?"

"Well you see," She stopped she did not want to go into this again, "I'm just curious."

__

"You already have the one of you and your parents, and there's that one with me when your were 7."

She snorted, "Gabe I was thinking of a picture of me and my parents when I was actually visible, not just a lump in mom's stomach, also photo's with you from when I was older. So are they in the units in California? Or the one's in Florida?"

__

He stood up and paced the cluttered apartment, "Rory all of those photo's were lost in the fire you know that."

Rory was quiet thinking about the fire that had claimed her parent's lives when she was just five, "All of them? You don't have any photo's of me with mom and dad?" she asked quietly.

__

"Rory honey, you know you were the only thing that made it out of that house alive or in one piece." Gabe said, the pain evident in his voice

She was quiet for a minute she knew how much he missed his sister, her mother, "Alright then how about class photos, or shots of you and me while I was growing up. I just need a few pictures here."

__

"There aren't any others."

"What?" She cried, "How can there be no other photos of me growing up?"

__

"You hated having your picture taken, you always demanded to be the one behind the camera." Gabe answered calmly, taking a drag off his cigarette.

"Quit smoking," Rory ordered absentmindedly, "Well what about school photos?"

__

"We moved around a lot, you know that. Most times you weren't there on picture day, or if you were, we were gone by the time the photo's were done," Gabe took another puff off his cigarette before pitching it out the window, he had almost finished a full one, before she caught him.

"Okay maybe I can see that, but what about candid shots of you and me?" She asked disbelief evident in her voice.

__

"Rory you know how I feel about pictures. It's better not to leave anything around that could be used…"

"As a way to track you down," She finished for him upset she had been counting on some photos to wave in Spencer's face.

__

"So are you still with the Neanderthal?" Gabe asked abruptly changing the subject.

"Jason is not a Neanderthal."

__

"I don't know about that, I seem to remember a time when he kicked in our door, and carried you out over his shoulder with you cursing him the whole way."

"Yeah and I seem to remember you sitting on your ass and not helping when he did."

__

"Hey I'm not stupid you know how big he is," Gabe argued.

"That was just a misunderstanding we worked that out a long time ago," Rory said shifting on the desk embarrassed by the thrill the memory caused in her. She was an independent competent woman she shouldn't be thrilled by macho actions like that. She shook her head, who was she kidding she had loved it.

__

"Still you left town with him after knowing him for what two weeks? I'm just telling you to be careful, that's all."

"This coming from the same man who threw my bags out of the window, in his haste to see me leave," Rory commented dryly.

__

"What can I say, you caught me at a bad time." He said with a smile, that faded when his gaze fell on the bills on the desk again, "It's funny how bad times seem to show up a lot."

She groaned at the tone, and put her head on her knees, "How much?"

__

"$2 grand should do it, I'm just behind on the rent that's all," Gabe said quickly.

"Gabe, you're killing me," Rory said sourly.

__

"Just hit up Jason for it, by now you should have him pretty well wrapped around your finger, if you can't get money out of him by now, then your no niece of mine. Hey in fact forget the $2 grand that's chump change, hit him up for some real dough, he's connected I'm sure he has it to spare," Gabe said picturing himself in a convertible.

"I don't take money from Jason. Not now, not ever, and I won't let you near him." She said coldly.

__

"Sorry." He backpedaled, "so it is serious between you two, I didn't know. I just thought you might be following in my footsteps, Bonnie." He finished with his nickname for her.

"Well I'm not." Rory sighed, she couldn't help the way he thought, "I'll wire you the money tomorrow."

__

"Thanks I owe you. So where are you? This is long distance but it doesn't sound like country to country. I thought you were heading to New Zealand." Gabe opened a bag of chips, this not smoking was killing him.

"Were not, Jason had some business to take care of, were in upstate New York, a town called Port Charles, have you ever heard of it?" Rory paused, "Nuts, Gabe I got to go that's my other line, I'll call you soon." She said and disconnected.

__

Port Charles, this was not good, he hung up the phone, threw the chips aside and desperately fished in his pocket for a cigarette, Port Charles was not good.

"Hello." Rory said.

__

"Hi Rory it's Sonny."

"Hey what's up?"

__

"I wanted to confirm the dinner plans for tonight, is 8:30 okay for you?" Sonny asked walking to the waiting limo.

"That's fine, hey Sonny how formal is it? I'd ask Jason but he just says to where whatever I want."

__

"Well it's not formal, neither one of us will be in a tie, but it isn't real casual either."

"Gee thanks for that insight," Rory jeered, "men."

__

Sonny laughed, "Are you okay? I saw you on the docks earlier with Lucky."

"I'm fine," She snapped quickly before softening her tone, "I need to go it's almost 6:30 and if I know Carly she's been preparing for this for hours, I better get started. Bye Sonny."

__

"Rory," but it was too late she was gone.

She got off the desk, contrary to what she told Sonny she didn't need two hours to get ready for dinner, she just didn't want to deal with the concern she heard in his voice.

"Alright, logic again. Just because I don't have the school photo's doesn't mean the school doesn't still have a copy of the class photos at least. In fact they are bound to have a copy I could get." Thrilled with that piece of deduction, she sat on the desk to write down some of the schools she attended and the years she was there. Most were on the west coast, so with any luck she could get some information tonight.

****

~Penthouse~

Jason got off the elevator carrying a package and approached Adam who was at the door, "Is Carly home?"

"Yes Mr. Morgan," Adam said quickly.

"Good," Jason said and waited, "You going to let me in?"

Adam jolted, "Yes sir," he quickly opened the door, "Mr. Morgan is here," he announced to the empty living room.

Jason walked into the room with a shake of his head, Adam was a good guard, he was just intimidated by him and Sonny that was why he normally was assigned to Michael not the door.

"Jason?" the voice came from behind him.

"Hello Leticia, I wanted to see Michael," Jason said turning to face the dark-haired nanny.

"Certainly, he's just finishing his dinner, I'll bring him right out," Letiticia said heading back in the kitchen.

Jason glanced around the penthouse he could see Carly and Michael's influence evident in the Penthouse. Sonny was obsessively neat, but Michael's toys were scattered around, a pair of Carly's shoes were forgotten under the table. If he ever had any doubt at how much Sonny loved them it was erased now.

"Jason," Leticia said.

Jason turned to look at her and Michael, who had a hold of her hand, and was staring warily at him. God he's so big, Jason thought he crouching down to his level and opening his arms to the boy.

"Michael, give your Uncle Jason a hug," Leticia said, at her words Michael buried his head in her leg.

"No don't know him," Michael said wrapping his arms around her leg.

Carly paused on the steps, she saw Jason stand up quickly at Michael's words, she could see the pain on his face. Tears filled her eyes and guilt swamped her.

"Michael, you know Jason," Leticia said trying to pull the boy off of her leg, "don't be like this."

"It's okay Leticia," Jason said his voice harsher than normal.

Carly sat down on the steps, obscuring herself from the occupants in the living room, she heard the pain in Jason's voice.

Jason took a deep breath before speaking again in his normal voice, "I brought him a gift, I'll leave it on the table and visit him later. Goodbye Michael," he said softly before heading for the door.

Michael pulled away from Leticia when he heard the big man's voice. He knew that voice, that voice meant, "Daddy." Michael cried running after the big man.

Jason turned, caught the little boy, and stood with him in his arms. He swallowed hard against the lump in his throat when the little boy wrapped his arms around his neck. "Hi Michael."

Michael heard the familiar rumble coming from the man's chest, he heard the voice from his dreams wash over him, he smelled the man and it was the same, the strong hold was the same. To Michael, the rumble, the voice, the smell, the hold only meant one thing, Daddy. Michael pulled away from Jason's chest, "Where go?"

Jason smiled and moved into the room to the couch, oblivious to everything but Michael, "I had to leave. But it had nothing to do with you, I want you to know I thought of you every day," 

Michael studied Jason's face intently, "Okay."

"I brought you something, it's on the table," Jason said and put the boy down and watched Michael run for the present. He smiled when the boy dragged it back over to him. Michael had gotten so big and seemed so happy. He watched Michael tear into the paper and saw the puzzle box that was covered with animals.

"Giraffe." Michael pointed to one of the animals.

"Yes it's a giraffe. Michael while I was gone, I saw some real giraffes, Rory, you don't know her, took pictures of me with the giraffe, I'll show them to you. Jason said when Michael came over and leaned against him.

Michael didn't always understand what was said but he felt so safe when he heard that voice. "Daddy."

Jason closed his eyes, as much as he considered himself Michael's father he couldn't confuse the boy, "No not daddy, Uncle Jason."

"No Uncle Sonny."

"No Michael, you can have more than one uncle. You have Uncle Sonny and you have me." Jason explained to the boy.

"Jason," Michael said trying to please him.

"Yes, Uncle Jason, not daddy," Jason agreed sadly looking at the little boy.

Carly heard the wistfulness in Jason's voice and scrubbed the tears off her face, preparing herself to go into the room.

"Do you like Uncle Sonny?"

"Love Sonny," Michael said playing with the box.

"Good, he loves you. You, Mommy and Uncle Sonny are a family," Jason said. "You live here as a family."

"Yes."

"Michael I want you to know that I will always be your family too, I'll always be your Uncle, your Uncle Jason." Jason said running his hand over Michael's head.

"Jason," Sonny's voice came from behind him.

"Uncle Sonny," Michael cried in delight and ran to Sonny.

"Hey buddy," Sonny said with a grin picking the boy up to hug him.

"Daddy Jason is here," Michael said squirming out of Sonny's hold trying to get down.

"Michael come here it's time for desert," Leticia called.

Sonny waited for Michael to leave before moving to the chair by the couch and sitting down. "Jason."

"I'm not going to interfere. He has you and Carly, two parents who love him, and respect him. He will be part of a family that's all I ever wanted for him." Jason said quietly his voice full of emotion.

"Jason you will always be his family," Sonny said resting his chin on his hand to study his friend. "You have to know that Carly and I would never keep you from Michael."

"I thought," He paused, "I thought he'd forgotten me."

"Of course he hasn't forgotten you, Carly and I tell him about you all the time, we show him pictures of you, and on nights when he can't sleep, we play that tape you made him, when he hears your voice he quiets down, and goes to sleep. We won't let him forget you."

"Maybe you should," Jason said refusing to meet Sonny's eyes, "He didn't know me when I first got here, and I was just going to leave. I was telling myself that it was a good thing, that he didn't know me, that it was better for him to forget me that way he wouldn't be confused.

Unable to sit any longer Jason got up and crossed to the bar, and pulled himself a scotch, "But then he ran to me and called me Daddy. Even though I know it's wrong, I was so happy to hear him call me that, to know that he remembered me at all."

"Of course he remembers you, you are his Daddy," Carly cried making her presence known coming down the stairs, crossing to him at the bar.

"No I'm not," Jason said lifting the glass of scotch.

She pulled the glass from his hand and slammed it on the bar, "Yes you are. It takes more than biology to be a Daddy. A.J. that waste will always be his father, but you will always be Michael's Daddy."

Jason turned away from her.

She caught his arm, "Listen to me Jase. Any man who is medically able can be a father, trust me their part in the baby-making process doesn't take long. But a Daddy now that is a lifetime commitment. You see a Dad will give everything he has for his child, he will love that child unconditionally no matter if he wants to be a Senator or a trash man. A dad gives his time, his love, he doesn't see his child as an extension of himself. He doesn't see his child as a prize or a bragging right, he just sees his child."

She took a deep breath, her eyes locked on Jason, "Michael is the luckiest little boy because he had two daddies who love him that way. One that he calls Uncle Sonny, and one that he calls Daddy Jason. He doesn't realize it yet, but when he does he going to feel so loved." Carly finished her tears working their way down her face wrecking her make-up.

"Carly that's not right, what you said. You and Sonny are his parents. I walked away from him once because I didn't want to confuse him, I'm not going to let you confuse him." Jason ran his hand over his face, trying to stem the need that Carly's words awoke in him, god he wanted to believe her.

"Jason, Carly's right," Sonny said walking over to them, "We talked about this before you ever came back. It's true that we are raising Michael as our son, I know you will never try to take him away from us. But I consider Michael your son and I always have, you will always, **always** have a say in his life."

"That's not right," Jason cried focusing on Sonny, "he's your son now."

"Yes he is," Sonny agreed, "But like Carly said he is a lucky little boy because he has two daddies. I couldn't love that boy more if he were my flesh and blood, and neither could you. The only name that Michael will call me is Uncle Sonny or just Sonny, the only name for you Jason is Daddy and I'm fine with that."

Jason groaned and walked to the window, "I want to be in his life, but I don't want to confuse him, or do anything that tries to take your place Sonny."

"You won't, I am going to raise, no I should say we are going to raise him, that we being Carly, me and you, I promise you that." Sonny said following him to the window.

"Besides Jase it's not like you have a choice." Carly called continuing on when he turned to look at her, "Michael has decided on his own to call you Daddy, when I talked to him about you, Sonny made me say Jason instead of Daddy so I wouldn't confuse him. Today Michael saw you or heard you and decided on his own to call you Daddy it was his decision; and you know what you always say about making someone's decision for them."

Jason looked from the smile on her tear stained face, to the grin on Sonny's face, and shook his head. Michael ran into the room his face smeared with chocolate. "Daddy Jason, I brung you some," he said with a smile holding out a smashed, gooey piece of cake.

Sonny laughed and smacked Jason on the back, "Go ahead Daddy Jason."

****

~Jakes~

Rory slammed the phone down in disgust another dead end this made absolutely no sense. She got up to prowl the room. Three of the six schools she had contacted not only had no picture of her, they had no records that a Rory Nichols ever attended that school in the past fifty years.

"There's still three schools left, maybe my memory of the names are off. It still doesn't matter, I know who I am I don't need to convince anyone else," she told her reflection in the mirror. 

Her eyes fell on the contact solution bottle on the dresser and she picked it up, "Don't it make my brown eyes blue," she whispered suddenly incensed, she turned and threw the bottle across the room.

Jason caught the missile before it could hit him in the chest he raised his eyes to Rory in question, entering the room and closing the door behind him, "Problem?"

"Sorry mild temper tantrum, I'm over it now." She said embarrassed at being caught, she walked over to him and slipped her arms around his waist burying her face in his chest.

He threw his coat on the chair before wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her head, "So what did the bottle do?"

She didn't answer, feeling safe for the first time since she had last seen him. It was pathetic how much she needed him right then, but she couldn't work up the energy to pull herself out of the clinging girlfriend routine.

"Rory?" Jason asked when she still didn't answer him.

"Shut up Jason," Rory said closing her eyes the tension of the last several hours drained away.

He thought back to his conversation with Lila, _That's the privilege of being a woman, we take great delight in confusing the men on our lives, especially the men were in love with,_ when his Grandmother was right she was right.

Finally Rory pulled back to look him in the face, "Come here."

He leaned down and kissed her, her hands raced up his back and he framed her face as the power of the embrace grew. He finally broke the kiss and rested his forehead on hers to take in some air.

"You taste like chocolate."

Jason smiled, "Michael wanted to share his."

"You saw Michael?" She asked moving her head slightly so she could study his eyes, she knew he had been worried that Michael would have forgotten him, "How did it go?"

He let her go and walked to the dresser emptying his pockets, "Better than I hoped, at first he didn't know who I was."

Rory sat on the bed and watched him.

"I was going to leave, I was practically out the door when he suddenly called me Daddy and ran over to me." He sat beside her to pull off his boots.

"That's good." She said taking his hand, "Isn't it?"

"I don't know," He admitted wearily, "I don't want to confuse him."

Rory moved on the bed so she was sitting on her knees behind him, her hands went to his neck to massage the knots there, "What did Sonny and Carly say?"

"Carly said it was only natural for Michael to call me Daddy because that was who I was to Michael," Jason answered, moving automatically when Rory pulled his shirt up and over his head.

She went to work on his shoulders, "How about Sonny?"

"Sonny agreed, he said he not only considered Michael his son, but my son as well." He said quietly.

Rory moved up and dropped her left arm over his shoulder to rest her chin on his right shoulder, "That's good then, they'll raise Michael, but keep you involved in his life, that's all you realistically expected."

"I just don't want anyone to be hurt by this, especially not Michael or Sonny." He said his hand closing over hers.

"I don't want you hurt." She ran her hand down his right arm, "Shit!" She jerked his arm up to look at his watch, "It's 7:20."

"Yes."

Rory pushed by him and off the bed pulling at her clothes, "We have to meet Sonny and Carly at 8:30," She said trying to kick off her boots. "Morgan you are going to make me late," She complained when he pulled her on his lap.

"Nope I'm just helping," he said running his hand down over her leg to pull off the boot before repeating the process on her other leg.

"Cut it out Morgan, with that kind of help we'll miss dinner entirely," Rory said getting unsteadily to her feet. "I'm going to shower now, alone." She finished with a glare and slammed the bathroom door.

Jason laughed and crossed over to the closet to pull out a pair of black pants, and a white silk shirt, good enough he thought as the phone rang.

"Morgan."

__

"Hello may I please speak with Rory Nichols," a perky sounding feminine voice came over the line.

"She's unavailable can I take a message?"

__

Oh my she thought, what a voice, "My name is Deb Vee I'm calling from LeCompton Junior High in Zendale, California, I'm returning her call, I have the information she requested."

"Okay can you give the information to me, or do you need to speak with her?" Jason asked picking up a pen and flipping over a piece of paper to write on.

__

"Could you please tell her that I accessed the records for the past forty years and we have had no student by the name of Rory Nichols at anytime during those years."

Jason frowned as he wrote down the information, "Is that all?"

__

Unfortunately yes, Deb thought, she really wanted to talk to him longer, "Yes."

"Thanks, I'll tell her." Jason said and hung up the phone.

He studied the information he wrote down before turning the paper over, he saw a list of school names and dates, along with little notes in the margins like _What the hell, idiot_, as well as question marks.

Why was she checking her school records? More importantly why did it look like she was coming up dry in her hunt for records? If he read her notes right it looked like she was zero for four with two left.

"All yours Jason," Rory said walking out of the bathroom.

He turned to look at her when she pulled on her bra, She glanced at him, "What?"

"You had a call, from a Deb at LeCompton," Jason said studying her, he saw her movements still and her body tense, but she kept her back to him.

"And?"

"There's no record that a Rory Nichols has attended that school in at least forty years."

She sighed and let her shoulders sag briefly, another school out.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" He asked leaning against the desk.

"No." She said immediately picking up his shirt and pulling it on.

"Rory."

"I will. Just not now, now we have to get ready for dinner." She sat on the bed and pulled on her boots.

He sighed, "Okay later," he noticed her actions when she dug in her bag and pulled out her car keys, "Going somewhere?"

"Yes, I need to get a dress that in my other bag in the car." 

Jason studied her impromptu outfit, his shirt skimmed her thighs and the boots hit high over her ankle, "Your going outside dressed like that?"

She glanced down at her outfit, "Hey all I need is a belt and this could be an outfit, they wore clothes like this in the 70's you know Charlie's Angels."

He snorted and shook his head, "I'll get your suitcase."

"You don't know which one."

"So I'll bring them all," Jason said holding out his hand for the keys.

"No there's not enough room up here for that. I'll just get it and be right back."

"You know we could move into the penthouse it's a much bigger place," He said taking the opening she gave him to start her thinking about moving.

"Why I like Jakes, you have to admit living over a bar has its advantages," Rory said with a saucy smile, "Like that pool game we had last night."

He tensed at the memory, he would never be able to play pool with her again without remembering that game. "Still," He said shaking off the memory.

"Still we don't have time for this. It's not like I'm going across town Jason, I'm just going outside, besides if it was good enough for Jill Monroe it's good enough for me," She said opening the door.

"You know she's not real."

"Who?" She asked looking back at him.

"The people you talk about, the one's on TV, they're not real. I just wanted to make sure you knew that."

She laughed, "Morgan go soak your head."

He smiled and moved to the window to keep an eye on her. He saw her enter the parking lot and move to her car to wrestle a bag out of the trunk. The shirt was stretched along her backside, and his hand was reaching to open the window, when he saw a man approach her.

He could see her smile and watched her mouth move, she gestured then waving to him in the window. The man followed the movement and quickly stepped back with a shake of his head.

Rory smiled at Jason and blew him a kiss before heading back inside. He shook his head and headed to the bathroom to soak his head.

Jake let out a whistle when she saw them enter the bar a half an hour later. "Jason is that you? I hardly recognized you without your leather jacket."

"I know he cleans up good doesn't he?" Rory said pausing by the bar, "It's good to know, because a woman's best decoration is the eye candy on her arm."

Jason smiled down at her before pinching her butt.

"Hey!"

Jake laughed at the two before bending to open her safe.

Rory's eyes followed her movements, she moved to get a look at the safe, the interest shining in her eyes. "Hey is that a KASO TL30?"

"Yes," Jake said closing it and staring at the girl in surprise.

"Cool," Rory said crouching by the safe, "Is it the 2119 Model or the 2120?"

Jason walked around the bar and pulled Rory up, "We need to go."

"But I just wanted to find out about the KASO," She said when he began to pull her to the door, "if it is a 2119 Model their extremely rare, I have had one on my list forever."

"Later Rory." He said keeping hold of her arm, he had to nip this in the bud now. When it came to locks, or safes Rory turned into a different person, she had an obsession with cracking safes. He felt her resistance and played his ace, "You don't want Carly to think your running scared of her do you?"

"Of course not," Rory snapped walking with him then, "Move it Morgan," she ordered but she couldn't help but take another glance back at the bar and the KASO hidden there.

Jason walked over to her car, "Keys" he said holding out his hand.

"No, the person who has the keys drives you know that," She said stepping around him to unlock the Mustang.

"You are so obsessed when it comes to this car," Jason grumbled.

"Well it's my car."

"You won the car in a card game it's not like you bought it." Jason argued when he got in.

"Your still angry that I bluffed you out of the hand," Rory said with a giggle.

"I am not," Jason snapped. He wasn't angry with her, just mad at himself. He had a full house 10's over 8's and she bluffed him all right. She went on to win the pot, which included the Mustang with only 3 Jacks.

"And you say you never lie," Rory said and started the car. 


	19. The raspberry incident

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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****

What If…

Chapter 18

****

~Cottage~

"And then Carly had the nerve to tell me that I could be replaced. Me!" Gia said as she stalked around the cottage.

"Replaced" Nikolas asked absently only half listening.

"As If!" Gia cried, "I mean they have built this whole campaign around me. I am the Face of Deception, people see me and then they buy the products, if they tried to replace me sales would fall."

"Fall," He mumbled his mind still working on the problem of Emily. It didn't matter how many times he told himself to stop he couldn't stop thinking about her.

"Right! Carly better watch it, if she doesn't, I might just have to take my Face elsewhere."

"Uh-huh," He fiddled with Emily's scarf, he needed to get it back to her.

She looked at Nikolas and noted his far-off expression he wasn't listening to her as usual, "So then I bitch slapped Carly, grabbed Elton and screwed him in the elevator he was so good."

"Good," Nikolas said nodding his head.

She shook her head and threw a pillow at him catching him in the head, "Nikolas you aren't even listening to me."

"What! Why did you do that?" He turned to look at her.

"Nikolas what is going on with you? You haven't heard a word I said."

"I'm sorry Gia I just had a hard day," He said sitting on the couch.

"You know what Nikolas so did I, and I was trying to tell you about it, my mistake." Gia stormed away from him.

"Gia wait," Nikolas said standing and catching her arm, "I really am sorry. Why don't you start over, I promise you will have my undivided attention," he finished with a smile and sat down again.

"The only time I get you undivided attention is when were in bed together, and even that doesn't seem to happen very often lately." She said bitterly crossing her arms over her chest.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know Nikolas."

Nikolas crossed to her, "No tell me. If you have a problem with our relationship I want to know about it."

"We don't have a relationship anymore Nikolas we have sex," Gia retorted shocking him.

"That's not true. We have more than just a physical relationship, you know I am crazy about you."

"Maybe, once. But now," She said softly shaking her head, "Now it seems like all you really want is to be gone, or rather you want me to be gone."

He stared at her for a minute stunned, before finally bringing a hand up to touch her face, "I'm sorry that you feel like this, it was never my intention to hurt you."

"I hear you saying your sorry, Nikolas, but I don't hear you denying it." She said stepping back from him.

He took a breath "Gia," his cell phone rang cutting off his words, "Gia," it rang again, "just a minute," he said finally walking over to his briefcase and pulling out his phone.

"Hello… Are you okay?… Where are you?… No, tell me where you are… I'm on my way." He said shutting off his phone.

"Nikolas don't even think about walking out on me, not now, this is to important," Gia cried.

"I am sorry but this is an emergency." He said apologetically slipping on his coat, "We'll have to finish this later."

"Nikolas I mean it, you better not leave." Gia said catching his arm.

"I have to, its…"

"What? Or should I say who? Emily, Lucky it doesn't matter there's always someone that is more important to you than I am, and I am sick and tired of it." Gia yelled before turning away from him.

"That's not true." He replied desperately, "You know that I consider you an important part of my life."

"Fine then prove it," She said facing him, "Stay."

Nikolas looked at her, and clutched the phone in his hand, who was he supposed to choose?

****

~Limo~

"God Sonny why are you in such an all-fired hurry, you hardly let me fix my face before you hustled me in the car," Carly said crossly as she opened her compact to see if the redness in her eyes from the crying jag had faded yet.

"Well we were going to be late. I don't like being late."

"We're only meeting Jason and Rory, it's not like we were trying to impress anyone." She checked her dress again, flicking off a tiny piece of lint that was marring the perfection of her look.

Right, not trying to impress anyone, Sonny thought watching his wife fidget, "Still we invited them, it's wrong for the hosts to be the one that are late."

"Whatever," she grumbled finally satisfied with her appearance she settled back in her seat, "Are you okay about earlier?"

"What? You mean with Jason?" He asked.

"Yes, I know we had talked about it, but I don't think you were prepared for that to happen today." She took his hand, "So are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Sonny," Carly tried again.

"Carly I am okay, it's not like we didn't discuss it. What was said today does not change my feelings for Michael at all. I still consider him our son." Sonny squeezed her hand.

"Good, I'm glad that you understand, I can't and don't want to take Michael away from Jason or vice versa." Her eyes started watering.

"Carly, I would never ask you to, nor would I ever want you to. Look if this was some parallel universe and A.J. were still in the picture I would be sharing Michael with him. But this is Port Charles not fantasy land, so were sharing him with Jason I'm okay with that."

"Good." Carly said before sighing heavily, "So your not at all jealous?" she asked.

He chuckled, "You sound disappointed."

"Of course I'm not." She snapped.

"Carly it would be different if you two had been in love. But besides what you thought at the time, you were never in love with Jason, and he always, always loved you as a friend, so I'm not jealous."

"Still," Carly stopped herself and rested her head on his shoulder. Was it so wrong to want him to feel a twinge of jealousy?

"Of course, if you were to wake up tomorrow and decide that you really are in love with Jason and want to take Michael and go with him, then we would have a problem." He said with a wry grin.

"Well it's a good thing that will never happen." Carly said thrilled at the words, "Because I happen to be completely in love with this control freak I know."

"Really?" Sonny tilted her head up to kiss her, "Anyone I know?"

"Well," She pulled him down for another kiss, "He has the best smile in the world." She kissed him again, "But he also has this annoying need to believe he is right about everything, even when he is wrong." She smiled at his frown, "But to me he is everything."

"Good," Sonny said pulling her to him and felt the car come to a stop, reluctantly he broke the kiss, "We're here."

"Already?" Carly groaned, "Damn'it Sonny you messed up my hair."

"Hey you were the one who didn't stop with one kiss, come on if we hurry you can fix it before Rory shows up," Sonny said when Johnny opened the door.

"I don't care what that little pipsqueak thinks," Carly said taking Sonny's hand and slid out of the car.

"So why did you change your clothes like 20 times, leaving every dress you own on the floor, before coming here?"

"I happen to be a partner in a cosmetics company, I can't go out in public looking bad, what would our buyers think, I certainly didn't do it to try to impress Rory." Carly walked towards the door.

"Right," Sonny said with a smile as he led her into the No Name.

Carly studied the room it was dimly lit with candles on the tables. The room was done in dark tones, deep browns and burgundy dominated the room. There were no booths, only tables with high backed chairs. So this was the No Name, she sighed, it wasn't that impressive.

"Mr. Corinthos, a pleasure to see you again, and to finally meet your charming wife," A man said hanging up the phone at the desk and bounding around to them.

"Mario."

"Your table is waiting as usual, the other party is not here yet, if you would follow me." Mario said leading them to the best table in the room.

"We will have some wine to start and wait for Mr. Morgan before we order," Sonny said seating himself so he could focus on the door.

"Certainly sir, I have made sure that we have plenty of your preferred vintage on hand," Mario chirped turning away, calling out in rapid Italian, to the waiters.

"I wonder if he is related to Elton," Carly watched the man practically skip across the room.

"Now that is a scary thought," Sonny said with a laugh, "speaking of scary thoughts."

"We're we?" She asked.

"Yes, I wanted to tell you that I asked Jason to move back into the penthouse," Sonny smelled the cork the steward had brought for his approval, and nodded at the man to poor his sample.

"That's good, I hope he does," She stopped, her eyes widening, "but that means that Rory will be living across the hall from me."

"Yes if she agrees they will be moving in soon, I wanted to warn you that's all." Sonny sampled the wine and nodded at the steward to serve it.

"I don't know if I like that idea." She swirled the wine around in her glass.

"Why? Don't even try to tell me that you weren't plotting some way to get Jason back in his penthouse, before you heard about Rory, because I know better."

"Maybe," Carly shrugged, "Alright I was, but things are different now."

"Is having Rory with him, really make you that uncomfortable?"

"No of course not, she doesn't make me uncomfortable," She snapped.

"So what? Are you afraid that you'll always be fighting with her if she lives across the hall?" Sonny asked slowly working on his wife.

"I am not afraid of Rory," Carly retorted glaring at Sonny.

"Okay then I'm confused. Weren't you the one who said that you wanted to see them together so you could find out if she was good enough for Jason? It seems to me this would give you the perfect opportunity to do that, and to keep an eye on her as well."

"Well," She shifted in her seat, she hated having her own words used against her.

"Never mind, I just wanted to tell you. You might not even have to worry, Rory might say no," He said changing tactics.

"Why the hell would she say no to living in a penthouse?" Carly demanded.

"I don't know, Jason said she was unpredictable maybe she doesn't want to see you on a daily basis," He shrugged, "All I know was Jason said he had to find the right time to mention the idea to her."

She's afraid of me; Carly thought with a smile, before quickly masking it, aware of Sonny's gaze, "Well she sounds even stranger than I thought she was."

"Well strange or not, here they are," Sonny said his eyes on the door.

****

~L&B~

Emily leaned against the locked door of L&B oblivious to the now darkened and drizzly night as she tried to order her thoughts. She stared at the crumpled piece of paper in her hand, what next? 

She shook her head, she knew life was hard, but how many more punishments would she be forced to take. She wished she didn't care so much; life had been so much easier when she just didn't care. She had managed to do that once before with the drugs, she had found a way to escape the pain. Losing herself in the nothingness, god even after all this time it still appealed to her.

She slid down the door and sat on the ground, she knew she was heading for trouble her thoughts were beginning to scare her. She had swallowed her pride and called the one person she knew could help her, but it looked like he wasn't coming. She really couldn't blame him. How many times over the years had he had to bail her out of one mess or the other, why would he want to keep helping her? She groaned and rested her head on her knees.

"Emily," Nikolas called approaching her, "Are you okay?"

Emily looked up at him surprised, "You came."

"Of course I did," He frowned down at her, "I told you I would, come on let's go, it's starting to drizzle again.

She nodded her head but remained where she was sitting and studied him, "You're right, you should go, I made a mistake when I called you."

"Emily what are you talking about?"

"I think it would be better if you left. In fact I think it would be better if you re-think our friendship entirely." She said quietly.

He looked down at her stunned, what was it with the women in his life tonight? Had they all gone mad? "Don't be ridiculous, there is nothing to think about, were close friends and always will be."

"Maybe," Emily shrugged and looked away from him, into the night, "maybe I don't want to be friends with you anymore."

He took her words, like he would a punch to the gut, the air went out of him and he dropped to the ground to sit beside her, "You don't mean that."

She sighed but said nothing.

"Emily," He took her hand, "you don't mean that."

She glanced at their joined hands and felt the weight of his stare, "No I don't," she whispered finally.

He took a deep breath and a little of the tension eased out of him, "What's wrong?"

"Maybe you should end the friendship though, people I get close to seem to die or vanish from my life, and I don't want you to be one of them."

"I'm not going anywhere."

She studied the night, the drizzly mist that was falling over them was soothing in a sense. "My mom used to say that when it drizzled it was really baby tears falling from heaven."

"That's nice, I am glad that you and Monica are close again."

"Not Monica, my mom Paige." Emily corrected.

"Oh."

"I wish you could have met her, she was so great, we did everything together. It was Paige and Emily against the world." She smiled wistfully, "I don't remember my dad he died when I was little, I only know what my mom told me about him, but I didn't feel cheated, because I had her." She paused and sighed heavily, "then the cancer came."

He shifted closer, turning slightly to block the wind that Emily didn't even seem to be aware of, she kept her grip on his hand.

"The first time, we were lucky, she was able to beat the cancer, the second time…the second time though the cancer won, and I found myself alone in a strange place surrounded by the Quartermaines."

"I had been close to Monica, when my mom was still alive, but when she died I pulled away from her. To me it was like Monica was just there waiting in the wings for my mom to die." She glanced at him, "Kind of like waiting for her cue, the part of Emily's mother will now be played by Monica Quartermaine."

She shook her head, and tightened her hold on his hand, "Eventually I realized that that wasn't the case that she wasn't trying to take my mom's place, because of that she did eventually become my mom."

She was quiet for a few minutes lost in the memories, and he was quiet as well he didn't know what had brought this on. It seemed like she was trying to explain something to him but he couldn't figure out what.

"I didn't like it here at first. Everyone yelled and fought. I went from my mom and me, to the Q mansion and it was unreal. Alan tried hard, he used to pretend he was Sydney the bear to make me laugh." She remembered with a soft smile, "Lila loved me immediately and Jason Q and A.J. were the perfect, overprotective older brothers, that every little girl dreams for, Ned coached me on how to fit in, and Edward, well Edward was his usual crusty self. They tried to make me welcome in their own way, but it was so loud and overwhelming to me."

"Then I met Lucky and Foster, his dog. Lucky was the first friend I made here, and he made it easier for me. Sly Eckert, Lucky's cousin helped to, but mainly it was Lucky and Foster. We even ran away together when I thought I didn't want to stay with the Q's, I never had a friend like Lucky before, and I depended on him."

Nikolas listened and worried, he was trying to make sense of this, she was talking like something had happened with Lucky. He didn't want to interrupt her though, so he kept quiet and listened.

"Things got better at the Q's for awhile, and then we lost Jason, and everything got crazy. My perfect older brother was suddenly replaced by an angry man who wanted nothing to do with us. I lucked out though, he decided I was one of the chosen few to be included in his life." She paused, "after that things were different at the mansion, and then there was Lucky. In a sense I lost him too, I lost him when he lied to everybody about Laura being killed."

His hand tightened involuntarily on hers, as he remembered when his mother had faked her own death and kept it a secret from everyone including him.

"I'm sorry Nikolas, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories, I'm just trying to explain. When I thought Lucky had lost her, I tried to help him, but he shut me out, and because of that and everything else I got close to Matt, and Matt led me to drugs. Suddenly there was a way out for me, a way out of my head and the pain that I felt. I didn't have to feel, I didn't have to argue I could just escape." She let go of his hand and got to her feet.

"Eventually though the drugs weren't enough to make me feel better, trying to fly off a roof doesn't help either," Emily said hugging her arms to her, "But with Dorman, using my diary against mom, and then OD'ing Matt, everything got crazy. I lost Matt. I know you think he got what he deserved, but Matt was my friend when I didn't have anyone else.

"I was your friend then." He said watching her.

She turned and shook her head sadly, "No you weren't, we were acquaintances at best. Other than the fact that I had a raging crush on you and kissed you once when I was high, I was barely a blip on your radar."

He shifted at the accuracy of her memory, he didn't like thinking about the person he was then and how he must have hurt her.

"It's okay Nikolas, I was just making a statement, not an accusation," she glanced down at the paper that was still closed in her hand. "Anyway not long after that I lost my dad for awhile to the drugs. A.J. decided to live in a bottle, you with Katherine, Elizabeth dying, Jason leaving, Lucky changed and was gone, Juan. Oh I know I ran him out, but do you see the pattern here? Everyone leaves, I am so tired of losing the people I care about," Emily turned to face the night. "I just don't want to care anymore."

"You will always care Emily, your heart is to big not to."

"Well I'll harden it then, I won't let anyone else in and that way I won't be hurt when I lose them," she argued her voice taking on a desperate note.

"You can try to do that, but what about the people that you've already let in, were not going anywhere."

"I'll shut them out, they'll leave soon enough. I can escape I've done it before," She whirled around to face him her eyes desperate. "Do you know how easy it would be to slide back into that groove? To slip a needle in my vein and escape? Do you have any idea how tempting that sounds to me, especially now?"

Horrified Nikolas shot to his feet and took her arm, "What are you saying?"

Too much, she thought shaking her head, "Nothing, never mind, I'm just having a bad night, forget about it."

"No way in hell." He said pulling on her arm and dragging her to the door.

"Nikolas you can let me go, I'm not going to get high, I promise." Emily said trying to tug her arm free.

"Get inside," He unlocked the door and switched off the alarm, "Now," he ordered when she stood in the doorway.

She moved inside and sat on the couch watching Nikolas slam and lock the door before turning on a few lights. She was surprised, he seemed almost out of control, and Nikolas was always in control. She heard him muttering to himself as he pulled off his coat and threw if on the floor, it sounded like Russian or Greek but she couldn't tell for sure.

"I want you to tell me what is going on with you and I want you to tell me now." He said stepping in front of her.

"Nikolas I already told you…"

"Bullshit!" He interrupted.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise, he never cursed, "W-what?"

"I have stood by for weeks and watched you pull away from everyone as you tried to work through some problem on your own. I didn't want to force the issue to I tried to give you enough space, and waited for you to come to me on your own. But I am sick to death of it. You are my best friend and something is ripping you up and I want you to tell me what it is." He ordered.

"Nothing is wrong with me."

"Don't lie to me." He sat on the table in front of her, "I have tried being the patient friend when all I really wanted to do was shake the truth out of you. But I am through with that my patience ends when I hear you talking about doing drugs in a longing voice. You are not leaving here until you tell me what is going on with you."

She shivered at the tone of his voice, he sounded so determined and authoritative right then she knew he meant every word.

He saw her shiver and cursed under his breath belatedly noticing that she was sitting there in her damp coat, he got up from the table and went to a closet to pull out a blanket for her.

She watched him work the buttons of her coat open and pull it off of her, his face was set when he drew the coat over her arms, and draped the blanket around her shoulders. "I'm not one of your subjects that you can order around," Emily tried to sound defiant but it came out as anything but, angry at herself she tried again. "I don't have to tell you anything, it's not like you can force me to."

His eyes locked on hers, he leaned closer to her so their faces were only inches apart, "Don't bet on it."

Her eyes widened at the threat in his words, "What do you think you could do to me?" she asked huskily, her nerve endings going haywire because of his nearness.

His eyes darkened when Emily nervously licked her lips, without a conscious thought he gripped the blanket closed over her chest and brought her closer and pressed his mouth on hers.

Her eyes were open in surprise at his unexpected maneuver but they drifted closed when he caressed her lips with his. He increased the pressure on her mouth and she opened for him, and brought her hands up to rest on his back. She had no idea what madness had come over Nikolas but she was going to enjoy this for as long as she could, she moaned in pleasure when his hand framed her face and his tongue explored her mouth.

He heard her moan and felt her hands move over his body and groaned into her mouth at her touch. Who knew she would be this sweet, this giving, he felt like he could kiss her forever and never tire of it. Who would have thought that Emily would be the one to make him feel like this? Emily, his mind latched on her name and he pulled away breaking the kiss abruptly.

She opened her eyes slowly, still dazed by his kiss. Nikolas saw her expression and wanted to kiss her again, reluctantly he brought his hands up to pull her arms free of his neck. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have kissed you," he said finally.

At his words the euphoria Emily was feeling crashed and she jerked her hands away from him, letting go of the piece of paper she still had clutched in her hand. He was sorry, he had just given her the most intense moment of her life and he was sorry. Emily pulled the blanket around her and looked away from him so he wouldn't see her tears, could this night get any worse?

****

~No Name~

"Interesting décor," Rory commented slipping off her coat, "I think it was a wise choice not having booths."

"Why?"

"Well if anyone decides to come in here with their guns blazing, it's hard to get free of a booth."

"You know sometimes, the way you think worries me." Jason said.

Rory laughed and took his hand, "Sometimes I scare myself."

"Mr. Morgan, Mr. Corinthos has been waiting, if you would follow me," Mario said brushing past a couple that was waiting ahead of them.

"Thank you Mario," Jason followed the man to the table.

Sonny got to his feet and shook Jason's hand, "Jason, Rory you look gorgeous," he said brushing a kiss on her cheek.

Rory felt Carly's glare, she didn't like that, Rory thought taking a seat next to Carly, "Thank you Sonny, sorry were late."

"What happened did the mall not have the right accessories for your outfit?" Carly asked ignoring the fact that Rory looked good in a soft blue off the shoulder dress.

"No actually it was the make-up, it kept running, pretty poor quality from Deception," Rory shot back sweetly.

Jason shook his head stifling a groan he had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

"May I offer you something from the bar, or would you rather stick with the wine?" Mario asked oblivious to the tension at the table.

"I'll have the wine, Sonny will have a scotch neat, Jason will have a beer, whatever is on tap, and the infant will have what? A Shirley Temple?" Carly asked with a smirk.

"Water's fine for me, I'm driving, you know some of us know how to drive," Rory answered calmly.

"Are you sure? The bartender makes a virgin daiquiri that is to die for?" Mario said beaming, "or the Pina Colada, it is excellent," Mario said kissing his fingertips in expression.

"No water is fine," Rory said glancing at him.

"Oh very well, but when you change your mind let me know," Marion said as he bustled away, "Congratulations on your baby."

Rory snorted, "What is that man on?"

"I don't know but don't you wish he would share it?" Carly replied.

"Not if you have to walk like that."

"True," Carly noted as she watched Marion skip to the desk.

Rory took a sip from her water and focused back on table, "What?" she asked when she caught Sonny's amused look.

"Nothing," Sonny said quickly. He couldn't figure those two out, one minute they were ripping at each other the next they were united in picking on someone else, women he thought with a shake of his head.

Rory opened her menu, which unfortunately was in Italian; she looked up at Jason with questions in her eyes.

"Order whatever you want, and as much as you want, the meal is on me," Sonny said expansively, "Or if you want I can order for all of us."

"On you?" Jason asked with a glance.

"Oh yes, I'm still working on that debt of mine."

Jason laughed and leaned back in his chair so the waiter could serve his beer, "Your still keeping track of that?"

Sonny nodded.

"Why?"

"Jason a man does not forget a $60 million dollar debt," Sonny said with a smile.

Carly choked on her wine, "Whaat? You owe Jason $60 million," she cried loudly causing several heads to turn in their direction.

"Yes I do."

"No you don't, it's not nearly that much now." Jason argued.

"Explain." Carly snapped.

"Well not long after I met Sonny he had a little problem and I was able to help him out, it was no big deal."

"So says the King of Understatements," Carly muttered turning to Sonny, "Now you explain please."

"Jason sold me his 12% of ELQ, which at that time was worth $60 million."

"And the debt comes in where?" Rory asked.

"Well he sold his shares to me for a nickel on the dollar or $3 million, so I owe him." Sonny shrugged his friend had kept him out of jail. No that wasn't true he had kept him alive because there was no way he was going to jail and Jason knew that. Jason had signed over all that money, without hesitation, and after only knowing him for a few months, even then his loyalty was paramount.

"God Jason I thought math was your strong suit," Carly cried, "man if I knew you then I would have smacked you upside the head."

"Actually you did know me then," Jason shrugged, "It was no big deal the money wasn't mine, it belonged to Jason Quartermaine, his inheritance or guilt money, I don't know. It was a weight on me and Sonny did me a favor by taking it."

"Still I told you then I would pay you every cent, of that $60 million and I intend to."

"I can't believe you are still keeping track."

"Yep your escape slash slush fund in Switzerland grows monthly." Sonny said with a grin.

Carly just shook her head, sometimes she really didn't understand men, "Your awfully quiet, what do you think of this shortey?"

"I'm just remembering that he was going to make me buy the hot dogs later," Rory teased with a smile, inwardly she was worried, she didn't like the thought of her Jason having that much money, she liked him the way he was.

Jason choked on his beer and caused Sonny to laugh, "Hot dogs? You will have no need for hot dogs after the meal you have tonight, trust me."

Rory nodded, "Okay for once I will let you be in charge of me, order whatever you want, if one of those dishes is a Fettuccini Alfredo I will be your friend for life."

Sonny nodded and placed the order in Italian.

Rory pulled Jason's arm, tugging him closer, "Whatever you do, do not mention your escape fund to Uncle Gabe." She told him quietly, but apparently she wasn't quiet enough.

"Uncle Gabe?" Carly asked, "Who might that be?"

"Well Blondie, I guess he would be my Uncle Gabe," Rory drawled slowly.

"So why shouldn't Jason tell him about the money?"

"Well Gabe is, well he's somebody that no one at this table would have trouble recognizing, if you catch my drift," Rory answered evasively sipping her water.

"So he's a grifter."

"Aren't we all in some way or the other Carly?" Rory asked turning on her.

Maybe Carly though, but she would definitely file this information away for future use. "Some of us more than others."

"Ladies let's not fight, we're here to have a nice dinner," Sonny interrupted the staring contest.

Carly glanced at Sonny, "We aren't fighting."

"Carly," Sonny started.

"No we weren't if I wanted to start a fight, I would say something like," Carly paused and focused on Rory again, "do you need a stool to stand on when you kiss him shortey?"

"And I would reply with, it's a good thing you had time to get your roots done Blondie, the punk look is dead," Rory shot back, before they both turned to look at Sonny.

"That would be a fight." Carly said.

"Men are so clueless," Rory said.

"Yes sometimes they are," Carly, agreed sipping her wine, she enjoyed the surprised look on Sonny's face. Maybe, just maybe there was something to Rory.

"My god what is that woman wearing," Rory muttered looking at another table.

Carly glanced over, "I didn't know Lycra and Velcro were making a comeback."

Sonny looked at the two women and then looked at Jason, "Do you understand them?"

"Nope but I'm willing to go with it," Jason admitted, "maybe you should not try to control them and go with it to." 

"What is it with everyone calling me a control freak," Sonny muttered shaking his head, he wasn't controlling he was just right.

****

~Outside~

"Come on Sal, you do this one thing for me, and I will owe you big," Lucky said to the waiter.

"I don't know, were not supposed to comment to the guests," Sal said glancing around the alley.

"If you do this for me, I will change your daughter's school records, and Brown will be all over themselves to have her," Lucky pressed.

Brown, he wanted his daughter to go there so bad, "Lucky you know who she's here with, I won't do anything to make them mad."

"Your not going to talk to them only her, and you'll be saying the truth anyway. Come on do this for me, and I'll wipe out your DMV record as well, that ought to help on your insurance right?" Lucky offered.

"Okay, I'll do it." Sal said before heading back to the kitchen, "but if this comes back to bite me, I'm going to be all over you."

Lucky nodded his head and sighed in relief, alls fair he thought walking away from the restaurant.

****

~Inside~

Rory pushed her plate away, "Okay I admit it, you did good Sonny."

Sonny smiled, "You sound surprised."

"I am, believe me." Rory said with a laugh.

"Well it's not as good as my own recipes but it is good food," Sonny boasted.

"Oh god, don't start," Carly groaned.

"What is he a good cook or something?" Rory asked Carly.

Jason groaned.

"Cook, a person who works in a diner is a cook. I am a chef." Sonny said snidely.

"Oh, pardon me," Rory said, "So is he a good chef, or is it just the hot air talking?"

Carly laughed, when Sonny's face grew red, "No he's pretty good. In fact it's one of the reasons I married him."

"Oh so his place is in the kitchen, that's good to know." Rory teased with a laugh that caused Jason and Carly to laugh as well.

"That is not funny." Sonny said with a frown, "Keep that up and you will never get an invite over for supper."

Rory frowned solemnly "I'm sorry sir, if you think you can do better than this, it might be worth risking a visit to the penthouse."

"Sonny is sensitive about his cooking," Carly said with a grin.

"Oh."

"He hardly even let's me into the kitchen at all."

"Why would I, all you ever do is make frozen pizzas." Sonny grumbled, "and mess up my oven every time you do."

"Hey I like frozen pizzas," Rory said, causing Sonny to groan again.

"Would anyone care for dessert?" Sal asked as the dinner plates were cleared away.

"Yes please." Sonny answered for all of them.

Sal took the orders and paused by Rory, "I know what you want, you want the Death by Chocolate that you ordered before."

Rory blinked in surprise, "What?"

"When you were here before, a few years ago with the dark haired young man, I remember you adored the Death by Chocolate."

Her smile instantly faded, "I've never been here before."

Jason reached under the table for her hand, and he glared at Sal.

"I am so sorry, I must have been mistaken," Sal said immediately, cursing Lucky inwardly when he saw the confusion and fear in the girl's eyes, "what would you care for?"

"Raspberries," Rory answered quickly, "I mean a Raspberry tart."

"Certainly," Sal said and stepped away.

The teasing mood of a few minutes before had vanished, and uneasiness settled over the table, "Were you here before?" Carly asked.

"No!" Rory snapped, "I'm sorry, no I haven't been here, he must have me confused with someone else. If you'll excuse me for a minute," Rory said getting to her feet.

Jason kept a hold of her hand when she stood and she nodded her head in reassurance, "I'm fine."

"Wait for me," Carly said getting to her feet to follow Rory, it was time someone told her what the hell was going on.

Jason watched them leave and finished his beer before looking at Sonny, "Do you think the word will go out?"

Sonny nodded "I'm sure the phone lines are busy while we speak."

"Good."

"Have you thought anymore about moving into the Penthouse?"

"I've brought it up to Rory, or rather I should say I tested the waters, she wasn't very receptive to the idea."

"I mentioned it to Carly, after some resistance she seemed okay with the idea."

Jason glanced towards the hall that Rory had disappeared through again, "That's good."

"Is she okay?" Sonny asked, "at times she seemed a little quiet tonight."

Jason shrugged, "Something upset her today, but she didn't want to talk about it. What just happened with the waiter didn't help."

"Does it have to do with her run in with Lucky?"

"What run in?" Jason demanded sharply.

"She didn't tell you?" Sonny shook his head tiredly and told him, "I saw her and Lucky together on the docks, I sent Johnny out as soon as I spotted them, but by the time he got there they were both gone."

Jason sighed and pinched his nose, "He must have said something, and Rory's been a little off ever since I saw her again."

"Well it looked pretty intense, I think it's time we put a guard on her." Sonny said sipping his coffee.

"She won't like that."

"She's going to have to have a guard sooner or later, you know that. If we get one now they can keep Lucky away."

"Maybe," Jason said glancing towards the hallway again, "but she won't like it."

****

~Powder Room~

Rory waited for another woman to leave before sitting next to Carly at the vanity, "Did you mean what you told Jason?"

Carly blinked, "Give me a hint."

"This afternoon, what you said about Michael, did you mean it?" Rory held up her hand when Carly's expression changed, "Before you even say it I know it's none of my business, but I still need to know if you meant it or not."

"Why?" Carly asked studying her in the mirror.

"Because it concerns Jason. Ever since I've known him, Michael has been the most important person in his life, and it will kill him, if he allows himself to believe what you said and then have you take it back."

"Now wait a minute," Carly said angry at what Rory was suggesting.

"I'm not saying you will on purpose, but it could happen, you know that." Rory cut her off.

Carly studied Rory, she could read people pretty well, and all she could read about Rory was her concern for Jason. Maybe she thought before answering, "Yes I meant it, Jason will always be Michael's father."

Rory sighed in relief, "What about Sonny?" she asked digging in her bag for a comb.

"Sonny feels the same way, we didn't decide this on the spur of the moment you know."

"Good I'm glad, now what about A.J. is he still in the picture?"

"Man is there anything you don't want to know?" Carly grumbled touching up her eyeliner, "No A.J. is not in the picture, Sonny got rid of him."

"When I met A.J. the other day he made some comment about getting Michael back, is there anyway that could happen?"

Carly felt a shiver down her spine at the thought of A.J. taking Michael away from her, then her gaze fell on her wedding ring and she felt strong again, "There is no way in hell Sonny or I will ever let that happen."

"Good." Rory said.

An awkward silence fell between the two women.

Carly shifted in her seat; there they were getting along again. She didn't have many women friends, all right she only had one, so it was strange to be getting along with Rory.

Now what? Rory wondered uncomfortable, "Well I think I'll head out and see if Sonny would like to dance."

"The hell you will."

Relived Rory smiled, that was much better, "Watch me," she said sweetly exiting the room to head back to the table with Carly on her heels.

Both men stood as they approached the table, "So Sonny are you going to be a good host and dance with me?" Rory asked setting her purse on the table.

"No he won't," Carly answered for him.

"Certainly," Sonny said with a smile taking her arm too lead her to the dance floor.

Rory winked at Carly and moved into Sonny's light hold and began to move to the music.

"So what brought that on?" Sonny asked.

"Nothing, I just felt like goading Carly and you were handy," Rory said with a smile, "Sorry."

"I don't mind," Sonny said, "You like her."

Rory frowned, "I didn't say that."

Sonny laughed, "Yes you did, you two have to much fun sniping at each other for you not to like each other.

Now Rory really didn't like that and she glared at Sonny and continued to dance.

****

~Table~

"You really are crazy about her aren't you Jason?" Carly asked suddenly breaking the silence at the table.

"Yes."

Carly blinked in surprise, she hadn't expected him to answer, normally if someone said something he didn't want to talk about he just ignored them, "So when are you two moving in to the Penthouse?"

Now it was Jason's turn to study Carly, "You don't mind if we do?"

"Would it make a difference if I did?"

"Carly you matter to me, and so does she, I don't want either one of you hurt."

God he is serious about her, Carly thought turning to look at Sonny and Rory, "So when?"

"We may not Rory doesn't want to."

"She will when I am through with her," Carly said.

"Carly what are you planning?" Jason asked warily.

"Simple, once I explain to her that I won't let her move into the penthouse, you won't be able to stop her from proving me wrong."

"That," Jason paused considering, "that could work. But why would you do that?"

"I don't know, maybe I want someone nearby to sharpen my claws on."

"I'll buy you a scratching post, now why?"

Carly looked at him in amusement, a joke? "I want to keep an eye on her and you two. She may have passed muster tonight but she still has a long way to go before I give her my blessing," She said uncomfortable with his probing.

"Thanks Caroline."

Carly shrugged, "So tell me why did she get weirded out when that waiter thought he knew her?"

Jason was spared from answering when Sonny and Rory walked back to the table.

"You don't know how nice it is to dance with someone and not have to worry about them crushing your feet," Rory said sitting down.

"I dance okay," Jason said glaring at her.

"Yes, you do as long as were a few inches apart and you only have to shuffle your feet, but Fred Astaire is someone you will never be."

"Who?"

"Never mind," Rory patted his thigh, "I'm no Ginger Rogers myself."

"Are these more make believe people?" Jason asked when Sal set his desert in front of him.

"No they're real, they're dead, but they're real." Rory said exasperated.

"Just checking," Jason looked at Sonny and Carly and explained, "she has a habit of talking about TV characters like they are real people."

"You just have no imagination Mr. The Average Rainfall in Ethiopia is 25 inches a year."

"20 inches." He corrected immediately, causing everyone at the table to laugh.

"God Jase you are working on your sense of humor," Carly said digging into her cheesecake.

"I always had a sense of humor Carly," Jason said testily.

"Really, where was it then the dry cleaners?" Carly asked.

"Now children behave," Sonny interrupted, "Rory is there something wrong with your tart your not eating it."

"It has raspberries," she said quietly looking at her tart.

"Yeah, that's what you ordered, wasn't it?" Jason asked.

Rory let our a slight giggle that died abruptly when she looked up at Jason, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears, "I'm allergic."

"Then why did you order it?" Carly asked confused.

"Just proving what an idiot I am, I guess," Rory said sadly pushing her plate away.

Jason studied Rory who kept her eyes on the table, he had had enough of this, "Excuse me."

Jason left the table and went into the hall that led to the restrooms and pulled out his cell phone. He moved slightly to let a man past him to go to the pay phone at the end of the hall.

"Benny, it's Jason. I need you to get some information for me. I need you to get me everything about the explosion at Luke's and the death of Elizabeth Webber." He paused too listen to Benny.

"No I want everything Benny, not only the facts, I want every single rumor no matter how crazy it sounds. It's after 10:30 now, so I'll give you until tomorrow morning at 11:00 to get the official police version." Jason paused again, "well you better get busy then." Jason hung up the phone and moved back to the table.

Marin hung up the phone and pulled his cell out of his pocket.

"It's begun, Morgan just made the request for all the information concerning Luke's and the Webber girl. What do you want me to do?"

Marin walked down the hall and glanced at the foursome at the table, "I understand, I'll make the arrangements, tonight, it will all be over with in the morning." He hung up the phone and studied Rory, it was a shame, she was so pretty.


	20. This could take all night

****

Explanation: This chapter has been edited to conform with the new guidelines concerning sexual situations. I think I edited it enough that it gets the point across without being what is considered breaking the rules. This chapter was hard to edit, because I was working in a song, as well as something else during the lovemaking. But oh well… For those who'd like to read the chapter as it was originally written and intended to be read drop me a line **stephanie22304@yahoo.com** and I'll send it to you.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

****

What If…

Chapter 19

****

~No Name~

"Is she okay?" Sonny asked Jason while they waited by the door for the limo to be brought up to them.

Jason studied Rory, "She will be, we just need to talk."

"Good luck."

"Why does Jason need good luck?" Rory asked walking over to the men.

"Because he is riding home with you, and I know how you drive." Sonny said with a smile.

"It seems to me that my driving saved your ass, so I wouldn't be making fun of it." Rory retorted.

"What the hell do you mean?" Carly asked, walking up behind the trio.

Rory grimaced, "Sorry." She said quietly.

Sonny just shook his head, he knew that Carly was going to be all over him after that remark.

"Well Sonny, thanks for dinner." Rory said with a smile kissing his cheek, before turning to face Carly, "Blondie it's been a pleasure like always."

"I'm glad one of us enjoyed is shorty," Carly said with a grin. "Bye Jase, talk to you soon," she said giving him a hug. "Bring up the penthouse, and I'll help you out," she murmured in his ear.

Jason pulled back in surprise, "Thanks Carly, Sonny." He nodded his head in Sonny's direction and then took Rory's hand and led her to their car.

"Shall we?" Sonny said gesturing to the open door of the limo.

"In a minute." Carly said facing him, "first tell me what she meant."

"Carly it was nothing."

"Don't lie to me Sonny, I'm not asking for trade secrets here I just want to know what Rory meant." She said taking his arm.

"It was business Carly, leave it alone." He said with a sigh.

"Bull, you don't include women in your business, except of course for your mouthpiece. So spill it. I'm not going to let this go." She said crossing her arms, and glaring at him.

"I'll tell you this much, and only this," Sonny began quietly, "last December she saved my life and Jason's life."

Her eyes widened, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, Carly it was months ago let's go home." 

She moved into the car slowly, "How?"

"Carly don't make me regret telling you, I only told you so you can understand one of the reasons that I like her so much is because she brought me back to you." He said, pressing a kiss in her hand.

"Okay I'm grateful to her then," She answered quietly hugging him, she had almost lost him and she never even knew it. "But this doesn't mean that I like her."

He laughed, "Yes you do."

She pulled back to glare at him.

"You two like going at each other to much for you not too."

"Sonny you have had too much to drink." Carly said grumpily.

****

~Docks~

Lucky looked out over the water and blew on his hands as he felt the cool breeze coming off the water. Spring was coming late to Port Charles but it was coming.

"Spencer."

Lucky turned around and looked at the man approaching him, "Hey Sal, how did it go?"

"It went." Sal said disgustedly, "Why did you want to do that to her?"

"I have my reasons." Lucky replied easily continuing on when he saw Sal's glare, "Look I'll hack into those records tomorrow and fix everything alright? Now tell me how did she react?"

"She got scared and upset."

Sorry Elizabeth but it is for your own good, Lucky thought shoving his hands in his pockets, "Anything else?"

"Well there was one thing a little strange, she ordered a raspberry tart for desert, but she never even touched it."

Lucky grinned, "That's because she is allergic."

"Then why would she, oh forget it, change those records and were square," Sal ordered and moved away.

"I will Sal, and thanks again." Lucky called before facing the water again.

"Soon Elizabeth, we will be back together like we belong." Lucky said.

"What the hell do you mean by that Cowboy?"

****

~Jakes~

"So you know Uncle Gabe, he was lying there milking it for all it was worth, the man never even fell down and to hear him tell it, he broke every bone in his body." Rory said entering the bar, "I am amazed at the stuff that man gets away with. You want to play?" She asked pausing by the pool table.

"No," Jason answered catching her hand to pull her to the stairs.

"Jason let me say hi to Jake."

"Later." He stepped up the stairs, pushing her before him.

"You know I think I like your Mount Rushmore imitation better than this he-man one," Rory grumbled walking down the landing, "If I want to talk to someone it's not your job to say I can't, you're not the boss of me."

He opened the door and switched on the light, before letting her precede him into the room. He was only half listening to her, she hadn't stopped talking since they had left the No Name and yet she hadn't said a word.

"I am glad we found that Western Union, that way I could send Gabe the money, at least now I know he'll still have a roof over his head. I sent it to Mrs. O'Reilly, do you remember her?" Rory asked flinging her coat on the chair to pace the room.

"Anyway she will pay the rent, then give what's left to Gabe, kind of like an allowance." She paused with a smile, Gabe was not going to like that, "I know you think I need to cut the strings and let Gabe grow up on his own, but it's hard, I'm used to taking care of him."

He pushed away from the door and moved closer to her when she made another circuit of the room, tripping slightly over her suitcase.

"Damn, I forgot to take these bags back down, this room is so packed, maybe we should get a bigger place, maybe we could take the room next door and use it…"

He reached out and caught her arm stopping her; he bent down slightly and kissed her swallowing her words with his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe to press herself against him, their tongues met, clashed, and mated.

She brought her hands down from his neck, still leaning against him, and pushed at his jacket to ease it off his shoulders. He let go of her long enough to let the coat hit the floor before burying his hands in her hair. Reluctantly he pulled away and rested his brow on hers.

"Jason?" Rory asked slowly.

"Talk to me." He said softly, his blue eyes locked on hers.

She pulled out of his arms, "Jason all I've been doing is talking you're the one who went into your block of concrete routine."

He put his finger over hip lips silencing her, "Talk to me, please, I can't help you until I know what's wrong."

"There's nothing wrong." She averted her eyes from his probing gaze.

"Don't lie to me."

She turned away from him and walked to the window, she stared out into the night for a long time, aware of his gaze while he let her think. He always gave her time to think, she shook her head, what exactly did she give him?

"Rory."

"Take me for a ride." They both spoke at the same time.

He sighed, "Running away won't help."

"I'm not running." She snapped.

"Then talk to me."

"I just want some more time."

"Why?" 

"Because telling you makes it real, don't you know nothing is real to me until I tell you." Her eyes widened at the words, God when would she learn to think before she spoke, with a groan she turned to look out the window.

He studied her drooped shoulders before walking up behind her, "Where do you want to go?"

Relieved she turned to him, "Anywhere, as long as I am with you and we go fast."

He traced a finger down her cheek rubbing hit lightly over her lips, "Go change."

Rory smiled and hurried past him to get her clothes.

Jason leaned against the window for a minute, before moving to change as well, he could be patient, she would tell him.

****

~L&B~

"Emily."

"Fine I get it, you're sorry, let's just forget it happened," Emily said striving to sound casual but it came out sharply.

"I shouldn't have kissed you, I am so…"

"Well why did you?" She cut him off, she couldn't stand to hear him apologize for the most passionate moment of her life.

"I… you made me mad," Nikolas said finally, how was he supposed to answer that? Should he tell her the truth that he had thought about kissing her for months, that he had dreamed about it at night, and that he had thought of nothing else since he held her in his arms this afternoon?

"So you kissed me because you were mad? Remind me not to be around you when you're happy." She said getting to her feet.

"I didn't mean it like that." He said rising as well.

"Look let's chalk it up to Midnight Madness and let it go, in fact why don't we just forget this night ever happened." She grabbed her coat and headed for the door.

He crossed his arms over his chest and watched her she wasn't going anywhere.

She turned the doorknob but the door refused to budge. She tugged on it again, terrific she thought with a groan, "Nikolas unlock this door."

"No."

Emily turned surprised, "I'm not kidding, let me out, I want to go home."

"No. Not until you tell me what is going on with you."

"Not this again." She dropped her coat and glared at him, "I had a bad night, sue me."

"This was more than a bad night." He countered.

"Sorry your highness, sometimes us peasants have a rough go of it, obviously I shouldn't have bothered you with it." She said nastily, maybe if she pissed him off enough he would let her out.

He moved over to sit on the arm of a chair and studied her, "It won't work Em."

"What won't work?"

"Trying to pick a fight with me." She flushed and shifted on the stairs, "You're not leaving until you talk to me."

"Oh ordering me around again? You better be careful you didn't like what happened last time you tried that." She retorted with a sneer.

"I never said I didn't like it."

"No you just apologized." Emily brushed past him moving to the desk.

"Emily quit trying to distract me, and tell me what made you so upset tonight." He said avoiding the topic of their kiss.

Emily leaned against the desk and kept her back to him. If she told him she would depend on him even more, tonight had proven something to herself that she had been trying to deny for months, that she had never gotten over her feelings for him. She couldn't set herself up for even more pain by leaning on him any further.

"Emily," Nikolas pleaded softly, "talk to me."

"I can't, I depend on you too much as it is, I just can't do that anymore."

He stood and began to move to her, he reached out his hand to touch her shoulder before stopping it's motion inches from her, he couldn't lose her, "If this is about earlier I promise I will never let it happen again."

She bit her lip and her eyes filled what if she wanted it to happen again?

"You are my best friend and I need you in my life, please tell me I didn't lose you." He took another step towards her.

She heard the pain in his voice and knew she wouldn't be able to refuse him no matter what it cost her, "The best friend role is now and will always be played by Emily Quartermaine." She whispered bitterly.

"What?"

"You didn't lose me Nikolas." She said finally turning to face him, "I'm just all over the place tonight and I guess I brought you along for the ride." She finished with a disappointed sigh.

He smiled and backed away in relief, he could do this, he could bury these feelings he was having for her and just be her friend. He was not going to lose her friendship, just because he wanted more from her. "Good," he said finally, but he couldn't help feeling disappointed.

He took another step back and glanced down as he heard the crinkle of paper, "What's this?" He asked bending down to pick it up.

Her eyes widened and she flew across the room reaching for the paper, "It's mine," she said stopping before she touched his hand.

Nikolas noted the way she jerked to a halt so she wouldn't touch him and swallowed another oath, "So what is it?"

"It's nothing." She answered quickly, holding out her hand for the paper, she had to protect herself from her feelings for him, "Can I have it please?"

"Emily," He said torn, he knew it wasn't nothing, but he didn't want to just read it without her permission either.

She sat on the couch, "Go ahead you'll find out sooner or later," she said wearily pulling her feet up on the couch to rest her head on her knees.

He opened the paper, a biopsy appointment at the 5th Street Clinic in two days, He frowned puzzled until a horrible thought crossed his mind. "Are you sick?" He demanded sitting next to her on the couch.

"No it's not me, it's my mom, the cancer is back." Her words were muffled because her head was still buried in her knees.

"God, Em, I am so sorry." He said running his hand over her hair.

Emily felt the dam that had held the tears at bay, break at his touch, "Now do you understand?" She asked looking at him, the tears beginning to fall, "Do you see why I don't want to care anymore? I am so tired of caring and losing." She finished bitterly turning her head away from him again.

He reached out to her and pulled her into his arms, "I am so sorry Emily."

"Sorry is just a word, it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't do anything, it's just something you say when there's nothing left to say, God I hate that word." She said trying to pull out of his arms.

"No, let it out Emily, I am here and I am not going anywhere." He tightened his hold on her, "I promise I will always be here."

Emily resisted for another minute before turning into him, "You shouldn't lie to me Nikolas," she said softly before the tears began in earnest and she buried her face in his shoulder.

****

~Ruins~

Rory got off the bike, took off her helmet and placed it on the taillight before glancing around the clearing, "Where are we?"

Jason put his helmet on the handlebar and took her hand to lead her down a small incline, farther into the clearing, "On a road to nowhere."

She laughed and looked up at him, "That's poetic, I didn't know you had it in you Jason."

He tugged on her hand, "No I meant it, there used to be a house out here but it burned down a long time ago." He shrugged, "The owners turned it over to the state, all that's left is this road and a bridge over the gorge."

She stepped away peering in the distance, "Do you know where the house was?"

He nodded studying her she looked relaxed for the first time all night, "Yeah but they must have bulldozed the foundation or something. You can tell that the place was big, and it had a lot of gardens. There are a couple of old benches and some statutes they didn't take out."

"What kind of statutes?"

"Wow." Jason paused in surprise, "Well one is a girl and she is holding something and the other one is a horse."

"Will you show me?"

"Not tonight, I don't think I could find them in the dark."

She turned and looked around the clearing, "It sounds like it was beautiful, it feels so peaceful here." She spun around in a circle glancing up at the sky, "I wish I could draw, I would love to draw this place."

Jason watched her good mood evaporate her face fall as soon as she finished speaking.

"But I can't draw." She cried beginning to pace in front of him, "I can't not even a little bit, I never got better than a C in art class. So I will never ever draw this place." She whirled to face him, pointing a finger at him, the words tumbled out faster and faster, "But that doesn't matter I don't need to draw. I don't want to be able to draw. If I want to I'll take a picture of this damn place, what is so special about drawing anyway?"

"Rory calm down." He said pulling her into an embrace.

She pressed her head in his chest and took a deep breath, she couldn't keep doing this to him, she was not a whiner, "Sorry Jason."

"Don't tell me your sorry, tell me what is going on."

She turned in his arms so she was leaning against him she was actually relieved that she was finally able to tell him, "I ran into Lucky and I guess he shook me up more than I realized."

Lucky again, Jason thought, "Tell me."

"He wanted to explain why him and Elizabeth were connected. I don't know, I guess he wanted to give me a brief rundown of their relationship." She shivered, "He was trying to prove to me how destined they were to be together, because of everything they had already been through together."

Rory traced his hand her eyes took on a far off look as she remembered. "He had this photo album with him, sort of the life and times of Elizabeth Webber and Lucky Spencer. I can't thank you enough for showing me that picture of Elizabeth, at least I was a little prepared, otherwise that ambush would have been even rougher."

"I'm sorry." He murmured.

"For what? You didn't do anything."

"For not being there with you."

"Jason I don't think he would have done anything if you were there." She pulled out of his arms and began to walk, "No he specifically sought me out when I was alone. He played me pretty well too, he figured out I couldn't walk away from a dare."

His fists clenched he really didn't like the sound of that, maybe Sonny was right, maybe she did need a guard.

"What else did he say?"

"He told me how they met, that she always liked him but he was oblivious to her, until…" She swallowed hard before continuing, "Until he became her lifeline after she was raped."

"He told you about that?" Jason said appalled, he knew what had happened, Emily had told him when the blackmailing story had broken, but he couldn't believe Lucky would blindside her like that.

"Yeah."

"Are you okay?" He asked catching her arm and turning her to face him.

"It brought up some bad memories that's all." She shrugged trying to dismiss it.

"Damn Lucky." He said with an oath.

"Jason it's okay, I'm okay." She said quietly to calm him.

"Still he had no right telling you that."

"I know, I mean think about it Jason." She said looking up at him, "He is convinced that I am Elizabeth, so what does he do to try to convince me? He tells me about the single worse experience of her life, hoping it would trigger my memory. Why would anyone want to remember being raped and beaten? I just don't get what he was trying to prove."

She stepped away and moved over to a tree to run her hand over the damp bark, "I wasn't raped, Lester only attacked me, I got away and left him bleeding on the storeroom floor." She paused before looking at him again, "But if I were to wake up tomorrow and couldn't remember anything the last thing in the world I would want you to tell me about was the night that Lester the Molester attacked me in the storeroom."

"I don't know what Lucky was doing either, the Lucky I knew wasn't deliberately cruel, and to tell that to you, to any woman, without knowing their history is wrong." He agreed, at that moment he would like to get his hands on Lucky, not to mention going another round with Lester.

"That wasn't the worse part though." She said softly, "As I was sitting there listening to him talk, I realized that he never once said my name. He never even said her or she when he was talking about Elizabeth. He kept repeating Elizabeth's name over and over like he was trying to drill it into me, that when he said Elizabeth he meant me."

He sighed and walked over to her taking her hand, "Rory you need to stay away from him."

"Okay."

"I know you don't want to be told what to do, but you need to…" He stopped when her words penetrated, "What did you say?"

"I said I would stay away from him." He tightened her grip on his hand, and she looked up at him finally, "He scared me, maybe that isn't what an independent woman is supposed to say, but he did. I don't want to be alone with him anymore." She took a deep breath before telling him the part that had unnerved her the most. "The worst part is that he seemed to know things about me, things he couldn't have know, from our earlier meetings."

"What kind of things?"

"Like the fact that I can't clear my throat all the way, although now that I think about it I could have done that around him," she paused in reflection before shaking her head and going on, "he knew I was allergic to raspberries, Jason you didn't even know that." She stopped and studied him through her lashes trying to gauge his response. She wasn't going to tell him the rest if he was going to get mad about it.

Jason was quiet waiting for her to continue, he knew that something else had been said.

"He mentioned a scar on Elizabeth's finger that was like mine, but hey that's easy enough to make up, it's not like I can find her to find out for sure." Rory smiled weakly.

"What else?"

"He knew about my appendix scar, but again that doesn't prove anything, lot's of people have their appendix removed, and guess what the scar is always in the same place. So it's not so amazing that he knew where it was, but how did he know I even had one?" She asked Jason.

Jason kept still even though he was wondering the same thing, he knew that there was something else though, something that had spooked her enough that she felt the need to prove who she was. He also knew she was testing his reactions, before going on, He tucked his hands in his jacket pocket and waited.

"All of that could be explained away right? I mean I thought he bugged our room. You don't know how close I came to ripping up the walls, looking for a camera." She began pacing again, "But that wouldn't explain how he knew…" Her voice trailed off.

"Knew what?"

She brushed off his question and began to move again, she always thought better when she moved. "He also got a lot of things wrong. Elizabeth was in art school, I can't even trace things correctly, she chews on her bottom lip when she's nervous, and I do not. She also babbles and I so do not," Rory caught his raised eyebrow, "Alright so I babble but there are a lot of differences."

Jason stepped in front of her to stop her pacing, "Finish it Rory."

She took a deep breath, "He knew about my birthmark," she said quietly.

"What birthmark?" Jason asked puzzled, he knew her body as well as his own, she didn't have a birthmark.

"I-I had a birthmark that looked like a lightening bolt." She admitted.

"Where?"

"Where my tattoo is. He didn't know about my tattoo, but he knew about my birthmark. How did he know that Jason?" Rory asked desperately, her eyes brimming with tears, "I just don't know how he knew that."

He pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on her head, "We'll figure this out Rory."

"I'm not her Jason." She said pulling back from him, "I know who I am and I am not her."

He cupped her face in his hand, "I know," he said softly and kissed her, his lips a feathery caress on hers in an attempt to soothe her.

She closed her eyes and let herself drift into his embrace, she felt okay now, now that he knew. She felt safe, she felt at home, God she needed him so much.

****

~Docks~

Lucky turned to face his father, the familiar look of derision crossing his features.

"Answer me Cowboy," Luke said moving closer to his son, it hadn't been that long ago that he had found Lucky passed out in a car that was still running.

"Don't you get it man, I don't do what you say anymore, I haven't for years," Lucky answered.

"You're not planning anything stupid are you?"

"I'm a Spencer, what do you think?" Lucky asked putting his hands in his back pockets and studied his fallen idol.

"You are." Luke shook his head that damn Spencer stubbornness.

"Whatever, I'm gone." Lucky said with a shake of his head and started past Luke.

"I see you found yourself on the wrong end of a fist."

"And?" Lucky stopped and looked at Luke, "Is this the part where I throw myself at your feet and say please help me dad, I need your help? I don't thinks so."

"Lucky you can snap at me and push me away all you want, but at the end of the day I will still be your father, one of these days you are going to have to accept that." Luke said bringing his foot up to rest on a post.

"Well I can't fix an accident of biology, but as for the end of the day, just stay the hell out of my life," Lucky cried feeling the familiar anger his father awoke in him building.

"I will always be in your life, whether you're here or in Argentina, I will always be there in your face," Luke said pulling out a cigar, "Now what is this I hear about some girl named Rory?"

Lucky flew at Luke and shoved him back. Caught off balance Luke staggered back, his arms reaching out to hold Lucky at bay, when Lucky continued his advance, "You stay the hell away from her, you hear me? You go near her and I will kill you."

"Lucky calm down," Luke said pulling Lucky's hands from his shirt, he hadn't seen Lucky like this since Elizabeth had first died.

"No you stay away from her, I just found her again and I am not going to let you take her away from me again, not like you did last time." He pushed Luke away.

"Is this about Elizabeth?" Luke asked, "Lucky the explosion was an accident, the inspectors told you that, the paints next to the boiler, it was an awful accident. When are you going to realize that I did not kill Elizabeth?"

  
"Shut up, it's your fault she went back into the building to begin with," Lucky shook his head, "It doesn't matter, she's back and you stay the hell away from her."

"Lucky what are you talking about?" Luke studied Lucky he wasn't drunk but he was talking about Elizabeth like she was alive.

"You just stay away," Lucky ordered before he moved up the stairs and away from Luke, his hands were shaking the craving for a drink was intense. He pictured Elizabeth's face and took a deep breath to calm down.

"Well Rory, I don't know who you are, or what kind of game you are playing with my son, but you will regret it," Luke said picking up his cigar.

****

~Jakes~

Rory walked out of the bathroom, wearing his shirt and rubbing at her hair with a towel, "Guess we got caught in the rain after all."

Jason lay on the bed in his shorts and watched her rub lotion on her arms, she looked a lot more relaxed.

"You okay?" She asked when she crawled on the bed beside him and touched his face.

"Yes, how about you?"

"I'm fine except for my feet."

"What's wrong with your feet?" He asked glancing down at them.

"They hurt and it's all your fault."

"My fault?" He laughed, "Why?"

"Because your so damn tall!" Jason laughed again and Rory smacked his arm, "You're the one who took me to a fancy restaurant that I had to dress up for, and couldn't wear my boots. I had to wear heels, so I didn't look like a dwarf next to you."

He laughed shifting to the end of the bed, Rory sat up and leaned against the head board and watched him pick up her foot and begin to massage it, "Jesus," she said with a sigh.

"Since I contributed to your pain, I thought it only fitting I contribute to your relief." He said quietly, tracing his fingers over the sole of her foot applying some light pressure on her instep.

"God how much do I have to pay you never to stop doing that?" Rory asked huskily when he picked up her other foot and repeated the process.

"Well that depends, my services don't come cheap."

"Well I can't match $60 million but how about unlimited massages?" Rory asked opening her eyes to smile at him lazily.

"Sounds fair, as long as you stop blaming me for being too tall."

"You are too tall, just my luck I happen to like tall men."

He pulled on her foot, bringing her down on the bed, her shirt was caught underneath her and exposed the flat skin of her stomach. He slowly raised his hands up from her feet to run along her calves. He sat up between her legs and brushed a kiss on the inside of her knees, his mouth followed his hands up her legs.

He let his mouth trace the sensitive skin of her thigh, while his hands gripped her hips, and he slowly let his tongue trace his way up her. He pressed his kisses on her exposed pelvis and stomach his hands continued the exploration of her body.

"Jason." Her voice broke on his name when he kissed her breasts through the thin cotton material of her shirt.

He smiled at her before moving up closer letting his mouth trace a path from the base of her throat to her ear where he tormented her by nibbling on her ear before moving to trace her jaw line.

"Kiss me Jason," Rory demanded her eyes half closed in desire.

He outlined her lips with her tongue, when they parted he moved to nibble first on one side of her mouth then the other. She groaned and turned her head trying to catch his mouth.

He leaned on his elbows and looked down on her, she felt the weight of his whole body pressing into her, the heat between the two of them intense when he was nestled between her thighs. "It seems to me, that you are the perfect size for me." He said with a rakish grin, "At least like this."

Rory smiled, "So what am I supposed to do, spend the rest of my life lying underneath of you?"

"No." He said kissing her briefly, "I'll let you be on top sometimes."

She laughed running her hands down his back, "That's mighty big of you."

His eyes darkened and his face grew serious, "I'm serious, I want you in my life for…"

She leaned up and pressed her lips to his cutting off his words, she couldn't handle any more upheavals in her life, at least not tonight.

He had a brief thought of pulling away to force her to finish their conversation, but then he felt her tongue enter his mouth and all thought went out of his head.

__

Put your car keys down

You better stick around

You're the only one who'll get this done

Close and lock the door

Drop down to the floor

Forget the phone until you see the sun

She pushed on Jason and they rolled over so she was on top of him, their mouths never leaving each other. She broke the kiss then to move greedily over his skin, she sank her teeth in a nip on his neck, to mark him, as hers.

__

Baby it's alright

Cuz you know I'll make this fun

When you see the morning light, 

Well we'll be right back where we started from

He jerked when he felt her teeth, his hand cupped the back of her head to bring it up to his mouth for another kiss. Their mouths met in a wild open mouthed kissed, the need kicked up between them.

__

Cuz this could take all night

It's a dirty low down job, when you do it right

You can turn it off, or you can leave it on

I don't care about the light

Baby this could take all night

Marin sat in his car and watched Jake lock the door and hurry to her truck. He ducked down as the lights flicked over his car when she pulled out of the lot. Sitting back up he peered up at the second floor window where the light was still burning. He'd give it another few minutes then he'd make his move.

Rory broke the kiss when his hands found their way under her shirt and reached up to cup her breasts. She moaned when his fingers flicked her nipples to tease them. She eased her body away from his probing hands, and lowered her mouth to his chest, she took a nipple in her mouth, teasing it with her tongue, Jason moaned at her touch. She smiled before moving her way over to the other nipple.

__

I hope your in good shape

Because you'll be working late

Don't watch the clock,

Don't try to stop this train

She kissed her way down his stomach, her tongue tracing the outline his abs made in his stomach, her hand slipped under the waistband of his shorts and she jerked on them to pull them off of him.

__

Just keep on going strong

Work it all night long

I'll make you glad,

It's in the stars your mine

Marin got out of the car, and opened the back door to remove his case before finally closing the door, he glanced up at the light coming from the room before moving to her car. He pulled a black electronic device out of his bag wrinkling his nose in disgust he dropped to the pavement and crawled under the hood to attach it to her car alarm.

__

Baby don't be afraid

A little work won't hurt you none

But just in case I'm wrong

You'll be smiling when they pronounce you dead.

Jason sat up and pulled on her head to bring her up so he could kiss her again, she broke the kiss and let out a sultry laugh when he ripped her shirt in his haste to get it off of her.

Marin sat up from the ground the alarm was bypassed he glanced around the deserted parking lot. Satisfied there was no one there, he popped the hood and bent over her engine.

__

Cuz this could take all night

It's a dirty low down job when you do it right

Jason rolled over grinding himself into her as his hand reached for the bedside table. She raked her nails over his ass and pulled him in closer her mouth closed again over his nipple. His hand went flailing on the table knocking things off it in his haste to find a condom.

__

You can turn it off or you can leave it on

I don't care about the light

Baby this could take all night

Marin's head jerked to the window when the light in the room went out. He waited a minute before going back to work.

__

Baby it's alright

Cuz you know I'll make this fun

When you see the morning light,

Well we'll be right back where we started from

Jason collapsed on her and her arms went around his waist holding him in place when he tried to move away.

"I'm crushing you."

"I don't care, stay," She whispered, "I need to feel you, I need the connection." 

The moonlight coming in from the window caught her face and he could see the vulnerability there, he kissed her again, and laid on top of her, trying to take some of the weight on his arms, as he cocooned her with his body.

__

You can turn it off or you can leave it on

I don't care about the light

Baby this could take all night

Marin closed the hood and reactivated the alarm before moving to his car. He hated crawling around on the ground but he was the best, and that was what his employer wanted, the best. He glanced briefly up at the window, he hoped they were enjoying their last night.

Jason walked out of the bathroom and studied Rory, as she lay sprawled across the center of the bed. He glanced at the floor and saw the remains of her shirt, no his shirt, lying there.

He grinned and walked over to the chair and pulled out the shirt he had on earlier in the day, and brought it to the bed, and laid it on the floor, before crawling in bed next to Rory.

She mumbled and moved closer to him, he pulled her against him and she moved into her usual position, her head on his shoulder, her arm over his chest, and her leg thrust between his.

"Rory." He said softly.

"Hunm?" Came the unintelligible response.

"I love you."

Rory shifted, "love you Jason."

He smiled in the dark and closed his eyes.

****

~Kellys~

Lucky jerked upright in bed, the images of the fire still racing through his mind, her name still on his lips. With a groan he eased back on the bed, soon the hell of the past two years would only be a distant memory, as soon as she was back, the nightmares would stop.

Lucky crawled out of bed, his eyes falling on an empty beer bottle, after the confrontation with his dad he had slipped. He considered it a victory though, he had stopped at two beers, when everything inside of him screamed for more. He was going to be sober and stay that way. He didn't want Elizabeth coming back to a drunk, he thought as he headed for the bathroom, thinking about the next part of his plan.

****

~Jakes~

Jason eased himself out from underneath Rory and sat on the edge of the bed.

Rory moved into his position on the bed then kept moving, her arm went over the edge of the bed to search for something on the floor.

He watched her, her eyes were still shut, and there was a frown on her face, he knew she was more asleep than awake, he nudged the shirt over closer to her searching hand.

She pulled the shirt on the bed and sat up groggily letting the sheet fall and slipped into the shirt. She pulled the pillow to her chest and laid back down.

He had watched this morning ritual with interest for months now, she never remembered doing it. He always enjoyed the bafflement she showed when she wondered how she went to bed naked and woke up in his shirt.

"Why do you do that?" he asked softly.

"Cold when you leave." She turned on her side and snuggled deeper into the pillow, "smells like you."

"Oh," Jason said softly brushing her hair from her face before moving to the shower.

****

~L&B~

Nikolas eventually became aware of a car horn, that car is awfully close to the cottage he thought keeping his eyes closed. He moved slightly and felt a pain shoot up the back of his neck "What?"

He opened his eyes then, it took him a second to recognize L&B and another to realize that it was Emily lying on top of him and not Gia. He tilted his head to study her she looked so beautiful.

The memories washed over him, he had let her cry herself out in his arms, and then she had fallen asleep, she had looked so peaceful he hadn't wanted to wake her, he realized he must have fallen asleep as well. Sometime during the night he had eased them both down on the couch so he was lying flat on it with Emily on top of him.

She stirred and moved her head to another position on his shoulder, he felt her breath on his neck, "Nikolas." She murmured against him.

He ran his hand over her hair, and at his touch her eyes opened slightly and she raised her head to look at him, her sleepy brown eyes locked on his. The temptation to kiss her again was so strong, that his hand moved from her hair to her cheek, to draw her lips closer to his.

She jerked away from him when the shrill ringing of the phone sounded in the quiet office. Her confusion was evident when she looked down at herself and back at him.

"Emily I…" He said sitting up, only to stop as Gia's voice came over the answering machine.

__

"Nikolas, are you there?….Come on pick up, I'm sorry that we fought last night……I didn't know you were at the office until I saw your car as I went to a photo shoot, I thought you were meeting Emily or something. Look I'll make it up to you later lover. Bye."

Emily has pushed herself off the couch while listening to Gia's message, she had to get away from him, before she lost it completely. She looked for her coat, and saw it on the landing. She was pulling it on when she heard Gia tease him about her plans for the evening. "I need to go will you let me out now?" She asked huskily refusing to look at him.

He got up from the couch and went to her, he tried not to care that she shied away from him, so he wouldn't touch her when he went past her to unlock the door. His hand hovered over the doorknob, "Em."

"Nikolas I have to go, the Q's are going to kill me for staying out all night. As it is, I'm going to be late for class." She had to get away from him.

"I'll take you, just let me get my coat." He said walking back down the stairs.

Emily bolted out the door, "That's okay," she called over her shoulder, for once luck was on her side and the managed to hail a passing cab.

"Emily," Nikolas called after her, but it was to late she was gone.

****

~Jakes~

Rory was sitting up in bed when Jason came out of the bathroom, "Morning," he said quietly, she was not a morning person.

"Hey," Rory mumbled looking blearily around the room.

He sat beside her on the bed, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said with a groan, "no more Ivy routine I promise."

"Ivy?"

"You know clinging Ivy a.k.a. clinging girlfriend, I'm over that now," she said with a smile.

"I didn't mind." He took her hand.

"Well I did, don't worry I am feeling much better today, what is it about what a little fun does for your equilibrium?" She glanced at the broken lamp on the floor.

"I guess I owe Jake a new lamp, I got most of the glass, but be careful."

Rory yawned and nodded, "Jeez, what time is it?"

"About 9:00 there's a shipment coming in that I have to meet."

She groaned and dropped back to the bed, "That's inhuman."

He laughed and nuzzled her neck until she pushed him away, "I'll call you later."

She mumbled and pulled the pillow over her head.

"I'll leave some money for the lamp…"

"On the desk," was all she heard, before she heard the door shut.

She rolled over knowing it would be impossible to go back to sleep. She got out of bed and headed for the shower, she would have an early start to find records about herself. God that sounded weird.

Marin waited until he heard the pipes creak as the shower turned on before letting himself out the other room and crossing the hall to theirs. He popped the lock and was inside in less than 10 seconds. He glanced around the room before crossing to the desk, he pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and laid it on the desk, before reaching for the phone. He unscrewed the receiver and pulled out the bug, he had planted there, then he crossed over to the table next to the bed to get that bug too. He heard the shower click off in the other room and quickly headed for the door he would have to get it later.

Rory walked out of the bathroom and paused, she thought she saw the outer door close, her thoughts were distracted when the phone on the desk began to ring.

"Hello."

__

"Rory its Emily."

"Hey Em what's up?"

__

"I wanted to know if you wanted to get together."

"Sure when?" Rory said glancing at the desk, at the money and then the note.

__

"How about 11:00 at the docks by the warehouse."

"Sounds good, hey aren't you supposed to be in school?"

__

"No were having review sessions I'm just going to skip them."

Rory scanned the note, "Well it looks like I have to meet Jason, why don't we meet at 11:30 instead ok?"

__

"See you then."

Rory hung up the phone and paused for a minute why would Jason want to meet her there? 

****

~Warehouse~

"Hey Dean," Jason said slapping the man on the back to get his attention, "Why don't you go outside and help Eddie?"

"Sure thing Jase," Dean said bushing by Jason and nearly knocking him over in the process, Jason shook his head, God Dean was big.

"Jason," Sonny called from the doorway.

"Hey Sonny," Jason said crossing to him, "everything was delivered fine."

"It better be," Sonny grumbled, "Benny just called and said he had stuff for you and an hour before the deadline, are you going to be here?"

"Yes the only thing I have to do is meet Lila for lunch." Jason said glad that Benny had gotten the results so quickly, "Damn I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Sonny asked.

"I forgot to tell Rory we were having lunch with Lila."

"Tell," Sonny asked with a grin, "I thought you didn't tell her things."

Jason glared at Sonny and went over to this jacket to get his cell.

****

~Docks~

Lucky stared at the warehouse, he had already spotted Jason's bike there, so he knew Rory was alone, now all he had to do was find her.

****

~Cliff Road~

Rory peered at her map and then glanced at the road, she wished she had paid more attention to how Jason had gotten to the ruins last night, but when she was on the bike with Jason she never paid attention to anything.

Her phone began to ring beside her, Rory took her hand off the wheel to grab it before it went to voicemail. "Hello."

__

"Rory."

"Hey Jason." She placed her phone between her ear and her shoulder and put her hand back on the wheel, her car was acting up today.

__

"I forgot to tell you about Lila."

"What about her?" Rory asked, shifting into 5th cresting a hill, she recognized the curvy road that lay before her.

__

"We're meeting her at 1:00 for lunch."

"What!"

__

"I'm sorry with everything that went on last night I forgot to mention it," Jason said leaning against some crates.

"Peachy," Rory mumbled her car picked up speed as she went around another curve, "look I am….st……ere……lk….on."

__

"Rory you're breaking up."

Rory cursed again, damn cell phone, oh well she was almost there anyway. She pressed the end button on her cell and threw it on the seat. She tapped on the brakes to slow down, and nothing happened. She pressed harder, and still nothing. This was not good she thought as the speedometer crept past 60.

****

~Warehouse~

Jason closed the phone and looked at it for a minute before putting back in his pocket.

"Problem?" Sonny called.

"No I lost her, she must be out of range," Jason took a step towards Sonny, when a sound above him caught his attention. He glanced up in time to see the rope snap that was moving the coffee bags over his head, sending the 20 lb bags crashing down on his head.

"Jason!" Sonny yelled when he saw Jason fall under the weight of the bags.

****

~Docks~

Lucky paused by the edge of the water and took one last look in the open doors of the warehouse, it looked like there was some sort of problem there. He sensed someone behind him a moment to late. His feet left the docks, when someone shoved him hard from behind, sending him into the cold murky water.

****

~Cliff Road~

Rory was getting desperate, her brakes and the emergency brake were out, and her gearshift was locked up so she was stuck in 5th gear. She couldn't even turn off the ignition.

She knew she was coming up to a sharp turn that she would never be able to make. She took a deep breath she really had no choice. She thought of Jason briefly, she wished she had told him she loved him.

"Shit!" She yelled hitting the kill switch hidden in the dash and yanking the wheel hard to the left sending the car in a spin.

****

~Docks~

Lucky surfaced coughing up the water he swallowed; he looked up in time to see a net descend over him. He pushed at the net, horrified to realize that it was weighted at the end and it began to sink pulling him with it under the murky water.

****

~Warehouse~

Sonny ran across the room, yelling orders, the men came running from everywhere, "Get these off of him." He yelled pulling at the bags.

"I found him," Dean said pulling off a bag and exposing Jason's face.

Sonny blanched when he looked at his unconscious friend, he was bleeding from the mouth and the forehead, this was not good.

****

~Cliff Road~

Marin got out of his car and cut through the underbrush to where Rory's car had landed on the edge of the ravine, her back wheels and trunk already over the edge. He could see her head resting against the steering wheel. Marin walked over to her and shoved her head back cutting off the horn as he checked her pulse.

"Maird!" he cried when he noticed mud on his new Mogli Bruna shoes. There were times when he truly hated his job, he thought pulling his handkerchief from his pocket to rub the mud off his shoe. He tossed the handkerchief inside the car, so it landed on Rory, and moved to the front of the car. There were also times when he loved his job he thought with a smile placing his gloved hands on the hood of the car and pushed against it, he didn't have to push hard, gravity took over, and the car slipped over the edge, and hurtled down into the ravine. 

Satisfied Marin pulled out his phone and placed a call, "It's done." Was all he said before he hung up the phone and moved back to his car humming Fur Elise, he was hungry, killing always stimulated his appetite.

__

Song Credit: This Could Take All Night, by Amanda Marshall


	21. Accidents cause pain. Deliberate ones c...

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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What If…

Chapter 20

****

~Warehouse~

"Get the rest of the bags off of him." Sonny snapped out orders, "Get Kimberly over here now."

He moved closer and put a finger on the carotid artery in Jason's neck, he closed his eyes in relief when he found the steady beat of his pulse. "Hang in there man."

"Excuse me." A feminine voice sounded from behind him. He turned to see a woman push her way through the men and hurry to Jason's other side.

"Kimberly help him." Sonny said.

"How long has he been out?" She asked taking Jason's pulse.

"I don't know a couple of minutes." Sonny watched her open Jason's eyes to check his pupils.

"How many bags fell on him?"

"They all fell."

"On his head?" She asked running her hand over the back of his neck and shoulders checking his alignment.

"No." Sonny looked up, "Dean how many on the flat?"

"20 per section." Dean said, "I pulled 3 off before I found his head." He shuffled his feet, "Is he going to be alright?"

Jason groaned suddenly drawing Sonny's attention back to him. "Jason are you okay?"

"Rory." Jason muttered his eyes still closed. He moved on the ground, open his eyes fluttered open and he focused blearily on the dark haired woman beside him. "Rory?" But he knew immediately it wasn't her, he closed his eyes again.

"She's fine Jason." Sonny said trying to calm him.

"Jason can you hear me?" Kimberly asked.

Jason fought his way out of the darkness, opening his eyes again slowly, everything seemed blurry, and a little out of focus. He shut his eyes and waited a minute before trying it again. This time the blurs gradually came together and he recognized Sonny on his left and a woman on his right. "Yes."

"Good. I need you to move your hands for me." She told him. "Can you do that?"

Jason moved his left arm, hand and wiggled his fingers no problem.

"Now you're other hand."

"Why is it getting dark again?" Jason asked quietly, their faces and everything was going dim. He closed his eyes to stop it, but when he opened them again it was still dark.

"What do you mean?" Sonny demanded.

"It's dark, the lights gone."

Sonny looked at Kimberly in concern, before looking around again. "Jesus Dean back up." He shouted, the big man had edged closer and was blocking the light.

"Sorry." Dean said backing off.

"I can see now." Jason admitted moving his right arm and hand with a grimace.

"Where does it hurt?" Kimberly asked. Her fingers were lightly probing his arm and shoulder looking for the injury.

"Near the shoulder." Jason shrugged it grimacing at the pain. "It's not broken, I took most of the weight on it, it's just bruised."

"Can you sit up?" She asked. "Sonny help him."

With their help Jason slowly sat up, the room only spun around twice while he was doing it.

"Alright same drill can you move your legs for me?"

Jason could and Sonny finally let out the breath he had been holding ever since that rope had snapped.

"Help me get him to first aid, I want to check him for a concussion." Kimberly said standing up.

"Dean, help me get him up." Sonny yelled.

Dean came back to help and Jason pushed him away. "I can do it." He struggled to his feet and felt the world turn again.

Sonny shook his head, reaching out to steady him.

Jason took a step only to stop. "Rory."

"What about her?"

Jason couldn't explain the feeling he had, he just knew something was wrong with Rory. "Something's wrong."

"Yeah Jason you just got over 60 lbs. Dumped on your head." Sonny snapped. "She's fine you need to be checked out."

Jason took another step before sagging against Dean, who pulled Jason's arm around his neck and half carried him to the first aid room. Jason didn't try to resist. "Sonny find her." He knew something was wrong.

"I will." Sonny called trailing them to the office. "Johnny?"

"Yes?" Johnny asked moving up beside him.

"Get hold of Rory, hers should be the last number on Jason's phone. Don't tell her anything, just give her to me when you get her." Sonny turned back and studied the destruction on the floor. Something wasn't right, he had a feeling that this wasn't an accident. "Then find out why that rope snapped."

"Yes Boss."

****

~River~

Lucky was trying not to panic he was sinking faster and faster. He tried to bend to find the end of the net but the net was so tight on him and the water so murky he couldn't see. His lungs were burning the need for oxygen intense. He was so close to having everything again he couldn't die now.

Panic begin to set in and he thrashed around in the water, fear of never seeing Elizabeth again, propelling his desperate fight for life. He opened his mouth to scream and the water rushed in, causing him to gag, his struggles grew weaker and weaker until they stopped altogether.

****

~Docks~

"I'm telling you I saw someone get pushed into the water." Alexis told Jax dragging him to the waters edge.

"Then why haven't they surfaced?" Jax asked looking in the water and seeing nothing.

"I don't know." Alexis snapped. The water was murky she couldn't see very far. "Do something."

"What?" He asked, "You want me to jump in, because you might have seen someone? Alexis I love you but you have lousy eyesight."

She hit him in the shoulder. "Jax, lousy eyesight or not, I saw someone get pushed in the water, it looked like Lucky Spencer."

"Lucky?"

Alexis turned to see Luke in his trademark sunglasses and black stocking cap. "Yes I think he's in the water." She barely finished speaking before Luke had shed his coat and glasses and dove into the water.

They waited for him to surface, Jax reached for her hand. "He'll be fine."

Luke surfaced finally. "Help me he's caught in a net."

Jax let go of her hand and immediately dove in the water after Luke.

****

~Restaurant~

"Yes I would like the Belgian waffles, with a side of shave bacon, freshly squeezed orange juice, also the Crepes Suzette, with sausage as a side." Marin placed his order. "I shall require another place setting there is something on this fork, and that will not do."

"Certainly sir." Penny quickly removed his setting, noticing there was nothing on the fork.

"That is all." He said in dismissal. He would be so glad to get back to Paris, the cuisine in this area left a lot to be desired.

He glanced at his watch, by now all three should be dead or at least seriously injured. A cold smile crossed his face, turning his handsome face into a sinister mask.

Penny set down his orange juice and quickly hurried away. The man's smile gave her the chills. She went to the kitchen to hurry his order.

It really had been a shame he had to kill Rory Nichols so soon. She had seemed so full of life, he had always enjoyed draining the life out of people like that slowly. But the client always got what they wanted. He shrugged still it was a pity.

****

~Warehouse~

"Okay just a few more questions." Kimberly said bringing a penlight up to check Jason's eyes again, the pupils were reacting normally.

Jason sighed he hated any type of medical situation. Kimberly may be nice, and he may still be in the warehouse, but this had the smell of hospital all over it, and he hated hospitals. They made him feel trapped. "It's April 17, 2001, I'm in Port Charles, New York, the President is some guy from Texas that I didn't vote for."

Kimberly backed away with a smile. "Good one more question. Who's going to win the Pennant this year?"

Sonny snorted from the door, while Jason looked at her in surprise, "A ball team."

Sonny laughed.

She glared at Jason and then Sonny, "Well he must be a friend of yours his head is hard enough."

"I don't have a hard head." Sonny said moving into the room.

She laughed moving to the counter, "Right."

"Did you get a hold of Rory?" Jason asked when Kimberly came back with a bandage for the cut on his forehead.

"No Johnny's trying but she still must be out of range. I'm sure she's fine." Sonny said trying to ease Jason's mind. "How about you?"

"I'm fine."

"I'd rather hear that from her." Sonny said.

"He's doing good. No concussion, the cut isn't bad enough for stitches, nothing is broken in his arm, so it probably is just bruised. I tried to get him to go to the E.R. to look at his wrist but he growled at me."

"Jason growling at women." Sonny chided, "That's not nice."

"It's okay, I know how to handle him." Kimberly said turning from the counter armed with a shot with a very long needle.

"What's that for?" Jason eyed her warily.

"Tetanus shot." She said sweetly moving closer.

"I don't need a shot." Jason snapped jumping down from the exam table.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of a little needle?" Kimberly asked with a smirk. "Now be good and I'll give you one of Sonny's lollipops."

Sonny smothered his laugh with his hand when Jason glared at him. "Fine." He snapped.

"Good." She said, "Now drop them."

"Can't you just give me a shot in the arm?"

She could but what fun was that? "No. Don't worry I have given lots of shots in the posterior. Just ask Sonny and the others. I used to work for the Red Cross." Kimberly moved behind him, "So drop your pants Jason."

Jason turned to glare at Sonny who wisely got out of the room before letting the laugh out.

****

~Dock~

"1&2&3&4&5 Breathe." Jax counted pumping on Lucky's chest, while Alexis blew air in his mouth. Once he and Luke had gotten Lucky on the dock, Luke seemed to shut down at the sight of his unconscious and not breathing son. He had started CPR immediately.

"Lucky." Nikolas yelled racing down the dock to them. "What happened?" He demanded of Luke while Alexis continued trying to put air back in Lucky's system. "What happened?" He yelled again turning Luke to face him.

Nikolas's anger woke Luke. "Cowboy was in the water." He said pulling free, he heard Lucky gasp and spit out some water trying to take a breath.

Jax rolled him on his side to help expel more water. Lucky gagged and coughed, his eyes were still closed but he was breathing.

"Thank God."

****

~Restaurant~

Marin pushed his plate away the food here was better than he had expected. He pulled out a cigar, Cuban of course, and lit it just when his cell phone rang. "Marin."

__

"I had expected a more complete update."

Marin straightened in his chair and blew the smoke towards the ceiling, ignoring the evil looks from the other diners. "I told you, I handled Ms. Nichols personally. I arranged for Mr. Morgan and Mr. Spencer's accidents to happen at roughly the same time. I have heard from my people, neither man is dead but they will be slowed."

__

"Good I need more time to get everything arranged, I trust Ms. Nichols' quest for her past has been delayed as well?"

He smiled. "I handled her personally, she won't be researching her past anymore."

__

"What do you mean by that Mr. Marin?"

His smile faded when he heard the ice in the other voice. "By now she should be at the bottom of a lake."

__

"That would be most inconvenient for you, if she is."

"Why?" Marin sucked on his cigar.

__

"I was told that you were the best, that is why I acquired your services. Now I believe I was mistaken. I do not like to be mistaken about someone I hire. If I had wanted the girl I would have killed her years ago."

"You told me…" Marin began a slight trickle of unease penetrating his system.

__

"What I told you Mr. Marin, was to slow her down. For you sake she better not be dead. If she is I shall be extremely displeased. You don't want to displease me. Do you understand?"

"Yes." The unease had turned to fear, his was a cutthroat business, and he knew what would happen to him for failure.

__

"I suggest you get her out of that lake, or make your own arrangements."

Marin closed his phone, dropped a $100 on the table and rushed from the restaurant. Long forgotten prayers the nuns had drilled into him raced through his mind while he started his car. For the first time in his life he was praying that he had failed in a job.

****

~Warehouse~

Jason walked out of the First Aid station and glared at an openly grinning Sonny. "Where the hell did you get her?"

"We needed a nurse, Eddie's new wife was a nurse, and she brightens up the warehouse." Sonny grinned, "I gave her a job."

"Has Carly met her?" Jason asked glancing back at the tall, pretty nurse, who was putting away her equipment.

"No." Sonny said getting to his feet, "Why would that matter?"

Jason smirked, "How long has she worked here?"

"Two months, why?" Sonny fidgeted.

"You know you're going too have to fire her." Jason said leaning against the wall, his body was aching but he was finding amusement in Sonny's predicament.

"Why?" Sonny asked.

"Carly."

"Carly doesn't tell me who to hire or fire." Sonny snapped heading to his office. So maybe he had arranged it so the two had never met. His wife tended to get jealous although there was no reason for her to be, he loved her. But still he wasn't anxious for her to meet Kimberly.

Jason followed him, "She won't like it, and she'll make your life a living hell until you do fire her."

"Shut up Jason, we needed a nurse, I hired nurse, that's all she is."

"A nurse who knows you like lollipops." Jason said from the door.

"Christ you have been around Rory too much." Sonny grumbled dropping into his chair.

"Have you reached her yet?" Jason asked teasing forgotten.

"No." Sonny was sorry he brought it up, he could see that Jason was still worried.

"Where the hell is she?"

****

~Cliff~

Pain the likes of which she could never remember feeling gradually came through the fog that she was cocooned in. Rory breathed in and out trying to find a rhythm to block the pain, and she slowly opened her eyes. She felt the bile rise in her throat, and darkness swam in front of her eyes, dimming the bright sunlight coming through the windshield. She closed her eyes, fisted her right hand, and began to count in her head, anything to force the pain back, to edge the darkness back. Jason's image appeared in her mind and she latched on to it, on to him like he was her lifeline. She concentrated until she could see his eyes clearly, until she could see crinkle in the corner of his eyes when he smiled at her. The darkness backed off, and she managed to control the worst of the pain. She didn't know if hours or minutes had passed, but she finally felt in control again.

She opened her eyes to take in her surroundings. She gave a mental thank you to Mike Villaobous who taught her how to handle a car in a spin. It had worked she was still alive. She looked out the broken windshield in front of her. It took a while for her to realize that her car was at an angle, and that was why the trees seemed to be growing sideways, she sighed in relief.

She turned her head, and let out a moan of pain. She kept her eyes closed until the dizziness passed, she brought her right hand up to brush at her eyes. She focused on her hand dismayed to find it covered with blood. "Head wounds bleed a lot Rory." She told herself, trying to remain calm. She closed her eyes and tried to remain calm, when she opened them she focused on the rocks and bushes outside her window, surrounding her car.

She groaned and turned her head back to the front, her eyes latching on the rear view mirror that was still hanging on the broken windshield. "Jesus." She managed when she finally identified the blue in the mirror as water. She realized she was on the side of the cliff, about to drop into a lake or a river. The water was pretty far away still, that meant she still had a fall in front of her. "Oh God."

She needed to get out of the car, she needed help, she needed Ja…, she needed to get out of the car. She looked around and spotted her cell phone on the floor in front of the passenger seat. She unlatched her seatbelt, and shifted to reach for the phone. She screamed when pain ripped through her body, this time the blackness was too powerful and she passed out.

****

~Docks~

"Take it easy Lucky." Alexis said helping him move into a sitting position.

Lucky coughed spitting out more water. "I-I'm okay."

Alexis turned to the crowd of onlookers behind her. "Did anyone call for an ambulance?"

"I don't need to go to the hospital." Lucky said starting to shiver.

"Lucky you were unconscious, you swallowed enough of the Port Charles River that you need a test for toxins, you weren't breathing for several minutes. You have to go to the hospital." Jax said.

Luke moved forward dropping his coat around Lucky's shoulders. "They're right Cowboy you need to go."

"So now you're a doctor too?" Lucky demanded his voice came out in a weak croak. His throat was burning and his stomach was churning, he couldn't seem to stop shaking.

"Lucky, I had to make you breath again. You have to be checked out, to make sure there isn't a build up of Nitrogen in your lungs." Jax explained, his words made Lucky focus on him. "I was a lifeguard, it's a standard procedure after any CPR rescue."

Luke looked at Jax with an expression of grudging respect, when he noticed Lucky listening.

Nikolas moved forward then. "Lucky you have too. If you are hurt, what will I tell Lulu?"

Lucky groaned setting off another coughing fit. He could hear the sirens getting closer. "Fine I'll go, as long as he stays here." He said pointing to Luke.

"Coming through." A Paramedic said wheeling a stretcher through the crowd towards Lucky.

Nikolas stood, moved out of their way and crossed to Luke. "I'll go with him, and I'll make sure Bobbie is with him the whole time."

Luke studied Nikolas, he couldn't help the feeling of anger he always felt when he looked at his wife's other son. This time it wasn't as strong. "Don't tell Laura, she'll just show up, and he'll leave."

Nikolas nodded amazed that Luke was almost civil to him. He moved to follow the stretcher. 

"And keep Count Vlad away." 

Nikolas shook his head, he should have known better.

Luke stared after his son for a minute before focusing on Alexis and Jax. "First thanks for my son." Luke said slowly, he hated to thank people but Lucky would have been dead without their help.

Alexis stared at him in shock. Had he swallowed some of the river too?

"Now Natasha, you want to tell me exactly what went on here?" Luke asked checking his pockets and pulling out a damp cigar. He glared at it, before putting it in his mouth.

****

~Cliff~

Rory was jerked into consciousness when the car dropped, pressing her against the seat. She opened her eyes and stared at the cell phone, which was closer to the seat now. She tried to move her left arm to pick it up, and screamed in agony. There was something wrong with her arm.

She slowly craned her neck and tried to study her arm, she saw the awkward way it was hanging, either it was broken or her shoulder was dislocated. The car dropped again, she closed her eyes and fought for breath. She could hear the water now, she was falling closer and closer.

She had to get out of the car before it fell the rest of the way. With a broken arm or a dislocated shoulder she might not be able to get out of the car if it hit the water. Besides the windows were broken, the water would find her pretty quickly. "Not to mention it's April in New York, not too warm." She murmured. "Enough with the depressing thoughts Nichols."

She had to get out now and away from the car before it fell any further. The car dropped another few feet then, causing her to grip the seat in fear. "Okay you can do this." She prepared to sit up, "Just think of Jason." She took another deep breath before pushing off with her right hand trying to sit up. She caught her left arm on the steering wheel, "Jason." His name was wrenched out of her as agony caused the world to go black again.

****

~Warehouse~

Jason moved through the warehouse heading for the open bay door when he came up short. Johnny who was trailing him stopped quickly so he didn't hit him. A feeling ran through Jason, a feeling he had only felt once before so it took a minute for him to identify it as fear. He glanced around trying to find it's source, he could see a large group of people on the docks, but that wasn't it. He shook his head trying to shake the feeling, but he couldn't. His senses were screaming at him that something was wrong, and those senses had been right too many times in the past for him to ignore it. "Johnny."

"Yes?"

"My phone." He held out his hand still staring at the docks, but he wasn't seeing it. He was seeing Rory, how she had looked this morning when he had left, her head buried by the pillow. He hadn't kissed her goodbye. He shook his head, he'd kiss her later to make up for it.

Johnny watched him hit re-dial on the phone. He wondered if Jason was okay, he had a strange look on his face.

__

"We're sorry the customer you have dialed is out of the service area."

"Damn'it Rory where are you?"

****

~Cliff~

Marin hurried to the spot he had pushed her car over the edge. He had parked a ¼ mile away so as not to attract any attention. He hoped he was not too late. He hated making mistakes, and that hatred had already found an outlet. He blamed his error on Rory Nichols. If she were still alive, he would take great pleasure in making her regret that fact at some point in the future.

He moved to look over the edge just in time to see her car plunge the last 50 feet or so into the lake below. It landed on its trunk them flopped over. He watched the wheels sink below the surface, he was too late, she was dead and so was he.


	22. Where's Rory?

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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****

What If…

Chapter 21

****

~Docks~

"So what did this guy look like?" Luke demanded again, watching Jax shiver in the cool April air, but not caring.

"I don't know." Alexis snapped, wrapping the blanket tighter around her husband. "Luke I already told you we were a ways away all I know is, he was white, with a black cap and coat."

"Look Spencer we have told you what we know. So we're leaving." Jax said putting his hand on Alexis's back to lead her away.

"Alright." Luke stepped back letting them pass. "Natasha if you think of anything else…"

"I'll let you know Luke." Alexis shot back not breaking stride. "But you know what I do, Lucky was looking at the water and someone shoved him in."

Luke was silent then, turning back to focus on Spook Island. It didn't make any sense. Who would shove Lucky in the water? And that net, just because he didn't work the docks, didn't mean he didn't know that, that type of net was only used in the open sea, not near the shore.

His eyes flicked over to the edge of the Cassadine yacht that he could see in the distance, it had been quiet on the Cassadine front lately. Quiet wasn't good when it came to Helena, that usually meant the old bitty was up to something. He shrugged, until he found out what it was, he was going to have to keep a closer eye on her and her devil spawn. He pulled out a damp cigar and tried to light it. Not to mention he had to find out about that Rory girl, that had Lucky so confused. The cigar refused to light and he threw it in the river in disgust.

"I hope that means you're finally quitting." A cheerful voice called from behind him.

****

~Warehouse~

Jason had let the phone ring 20 times before finally slamming it down on the desk. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"She's not a Jakes?" Sonny asked from the doorway.

"No and I still can't get through on her cell." Jason winced slightly when he brought his hand up to rub at the base of his neck. "I don't know where she could be."

"Did she say anything about meeting someone?"

"No." Jason sighed moving to the window. "She's not a morning person." He admitted quietly. "She had her head buried in a pillow when I left, she was mad that I had woken her up again."

"Maybe she fell back asleep." Sonny suggested moving towards his desk.

"No." Jason closed his eyes and remembered yesterday morning, was it only yesterday?

__

"Yeah right, like I can sleep when you're not in bed with me." Rory grumbled, her eyes widening when she realized what she had said.

His hands tightened on her waist, in response to her words. He hoped she was finally willing to say that she loved him. He watched her while she tried to backpedal.

"What I mean is…well I've gotten used to…I mean it's just."

"I can't sleep when your not there either." Jason said quietly interrupting her.

That got her attention, and she looked up at him. "What does that mean Jason?" She asked quietly.

"No." He repeated. "She wouldn't have gone back to sleep. Besides she had some stuff to do today."

__

"No more Ivy routine I promise."

He shook his head, maybe he liked the Ivy routine, liked that she had needed him. That she finally trusted him enough to let go completely. It hadn't always been like that. She had let him get to know her in stages, even after they began traveling together, she let her guard down a little at a time, almost as if she were testing him. Testing to see that if he knew the whole Rory Nichols, he would still be there, and want to be with her. He rested a hand on the cool windowpane, like he was going anywhere. He wasn't and neither was she. Another prickle of uneasiness ran down his back. He just had to find her.

"You told me she likes to explore." Sonny offered trying to ease Jason's mind.

"Yeah."

"So she's probably out driving around and she's just out of cell range." Sonny was starting to worry himself, Jason's belief that something had happened to her was beginning to get him.

"Sonny? Jason?" Johnny called from the doorway.

"Yeah?" Sonny asked turning halfway around to face the bodyguard.

"I think we might have a problem." Johnny said quietly. At his words Jason turned to focus on him.

****

~Cliff~

"Fuck." The curse slipped out, while Marin stood there watching the car sink farther under the dingy water. He was in a lot of trouble. You didn't become the best in the business by making mistakes, there were too many people around just waiting to capitalize on the slightest error. He was good, and he had been the best for longer than most, but he knew he wouldn't survive this.

He sighed, he had prepared for this eventuality, the nuns, besides drilling into him a hate of anything secular, also drilled in him a sense of practicality. He had money, papers in different names, in a few hours he could be gone and Emil Marin would cease to exist. He was good enough that he could stay one step ahead of anyone who might come looking.

Still Marin couldn't bring himself to walk away from the cliff. He didn't like to fail, but he really hated to lose. There had to be a way out of this. His eyes were drawn to the water again, and he saw the last of her tires, disappear beneath the surface.

He shook his head, maybe there wasn't. He shifted on the edge, sending some loose rocks falling farther down the cliff. He absently watched the rocks progress and jolted in surprise when they came to rest next to a brown haired woman about 150 feet down the cliff. He smiled in relief, there was still a chance that Rory was still alive, if she was Emil Marin could live too.

"Hey." He called down to her, in his excitement he forgot to disguise his voice. "Quest qe Ce?" He called out in French.

There was no response from her, he refused to believe that she had made it out of the car only to die on the cliff. He wouldn't allow her to be dead. Marin looked around for more rocks and began to throw them at her hoping to get some sort of reaction, movement, a groan, anything to prove that she was still alive. But she just lay there not moving, as the rock shower cascaded around her.

"Wake up you stupid bitch." He yelled, picking up a larger rock and dropping it over the edge in her direction.

The rock connected with her left shoulder, and he saw her whole body jerk in response to the impact. The wind carried her groan of pain up to him, at the same time she shifted on the loose soil she was lying on and slid further down the cliff.

She was alive. Marin smiled in relief. Now he just had to get her up the cliff. He scanned the rocky surface leading down to her, he could make it with ease. The only problem was, what if she was awake and saw him when he got there?

He stepped away from the edge heading for his car. He had already decided that he would kill her one-day, when the client had no further use for her. But for now he couldn't afford to have her see his face. One of the reasons that he was the best was that no one in his business, not clients or competitors, ever saw his face. The only ones who had were dead. He never met the clients face to face, he relied on computers and phones. It had worked that way for 20 years and he wasn't about to get careless now. He waited until his car was in view before pulling out his cell phone. He set the alarm on his watch and dialed.

__

"911. What is the nature of your emergency?"

"Ma'am." Gone were the melodious French tones, in its place was a guttural Southern drawl. "I just seen this car go flying off a cliff."

__

"Did you say you saw a car go over a cliff?"

"Yes'm." God what an idiotic woman. "I'm out on Highway 81, at the turnout, just past mile marker 138."

__

"What is your name sir?"

"It's Elwood, Elwood P. Dowd." Marin said opening his car door. "I think someone fell out of the car when it was going over, but I can't say for sure, you better hurry though."

__

"Sir could you give me your address?"

"We'll ma'am I'm from Tennessee, I'm just driving my horses home from a race." His watch began to beep in warning. "You best hurry, I got to get back to my farm now."

__

"Sir…"

Marin closed the phone, now he could only hope that the incompetent American woman would send help.

****

~Docks~

Luke turned around a smile lighting his features, causing his blue eyes to sparkle. For the moment his concern for Lucky was pushed back. "Well if it isn't Ms. Quartermaine. Are you here to brighten up the docks?"

"Nothing or no one is that pretty." Emily smiled moving closer. "So are you quitting?"

"Bite your tongue." Luke said with a smile. "That one was just wet."

"So are you." She studied his dripping form. "What happened to you?"

Luke sobered. "It seems Lucky decided to go for a little swim in the river."

"Oh my God, is he okay?" She asked touching his arm.

"Yes." He patted her hand to calm her down. "Me and the Australian wonder got him out, then Alexis got him breathing again."

"Where is he now?" She paused. "Was he drunk?"

"No this time he was sober, apparently someone shoved him in the water." He let that slip out and was instantly sorry when he saw the worry in her face. "Don't worry, he's at GH getting checked out as a precaution." He sighed bending to pick up his coat. "He was fine enough before he left to give me grief, so he'll be okay."

"Good." Emily said moving to the bench.

"Not that I didn't do the same all the time when I was your age." Luke started dropping down beside her. "But aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"We're having review sessions, I skipped them to meet Rory." She wondered if Nikolas knew. If not she really should tell him. She had wanted to avoid him for a while though.

"Rory?" Luke's voice was sharp. "Rory who?"

"Rory Nichols, Jason's girlfriend." She was only half way listening to Luke. Lucky was Nikolas's brother he deserved to know what happened. She couldn't not tell him, just because she was feeling uncomfortable, at the thought of being around him.

"So the unflappable and talkative Mr. Morgan is back in town?" He asked that would explain some of the bruises on Lucky's face.

"Yeah for a few days now." Maybe she could tell him and then go right away.

"And this Rory, she is with him?"

"Yes." Emily pulled herself over her internal debate over telling Nikolas or not, to focus on Luke. "Do you know about her?"

"What about her?" Luke asked fishing out another damp cigar. "I know she seems to have done something to my son."

"No she didn't do anything to Lucky." Emily paused and laughed slightly. "That's not true, she did deck him and knock him out."

Luke looked at her in surprise.

"But it wasn't her fault, Lucky kind of deserved it." Emily finished quickly.

"Emily you want to tell me why Lucky deserved to be hit?" Luke asked rolling the damp cigar between his fingers.

"She only hit him because he was going after Jason from behind." She saw the expression on Luke's face and tried again. "You see he thought she was Elizabeth and he grabbed her and wouldn't let her go, even when Jason told him too. When Jason got her away from him, he sort of started a fight."

"So Lucky thought she was Elizabeth?" Luke asked quietly. His eyes were focused on the damp spot on the dock that his son had laid on dead for a few minutes just a half hour ago.

"It really wasn't his fault for thinking that, she does look like Elizabeth." Emily admitted.

Luke shifted his gaze to her. "There is a resemblance?"

"It's more than that Luke. She looks exactly like Elizabeth would look today if she were still alive." Emily shuddered slightly. "It's spooky, sometimes she even acts like her."

What did that mean? He didn't believe in coincidences. A girl shows up in town that looks exactly like Elizabeth Webber and a few days later someone tries to use his son as a fishing lure. Something was definitely going on in Port Chuckles.

"Luke?"

"Hmmm?" He focused on Emily again.

"Are you going to get that?" Emily asked again pointing to his pocket that was ringing.

"Oh, yes." Luke smiled and pulled out the phone. "I hate these things, it's probably just Claude, crying because he lost his keys again."

"Spencer." He said into the phone. "What?…Come on DeLucca give me a break…" He groaned. "Alright give me ten minutes." Luke snapped the phone closed. "Sometimes I think he left part of his brain in prison."

"Is everything okay?" Emily asked.

Luke smiled at her. "It's fine." He softened his voice. "Will you do me a favor and check on Lucky, he doesn't want me around."

"I always do."

"I know. Thanks." This thanks to the brown-eyed girl he didn't mind saying. "Goodbye Ms. Quartermaine."

"Bye Luke." Her smile faded while she watched his retreating back. She had to let Nikolas know for Lucky's sake. She pulled out her cell phone and pressed Memory 1 to reach him.

__

"Hello."

"Nikolas, it's Emily."

__

"Hi Emily." Nikolas voice softened at the same time tension entered his body.

"I wanted to tell you something." Emily said quickly, if she kept the subject on Lucky she should be fine.

__

Nikolas moved around a gurney in the E.R. "I need to tell you something too."

"Oh." She paused. He was probably going to apologize again, Nikolas was nothing if not exceedingly polite and formal, and she didn't want to hear it. "I just talked to Luke…"

__

"So you know about Lucky already?"

"You know?" Emily asked.

__

"Yes. I am at the ER with him now. The doctors are checking him out." Nikolas told her glancing at the closed doors leading to the exam room.

"Good I'm glad he's not alone, I just wanted to tell you." Emily said preparing to hang up.

__

"Wait, Em about what…" Nikolas turned when a nurse grabbed his arm. "What?"

"You can't use a cell phone in the hospital. You need to end your call right now."

"I will."

"Now." The nurse snapped.

Emily heard the conversation and took advantage of it. "I just wanted to tell you about Lucky, so goodbye Nikolas."

__

"Em wait." Nikolas tried but she was gone. He saw the nurse frown in direction again and he shut off the phone slipping it in his pocket. Why wasn't she in school?

Emily put the phone back in her bag, glancing at her watch while she did. 10:45 a.m., she still had forty-five minutes before meeting Rory. She had decided to tell Rory everything, once she had made her decision, she was in a rush to do so.

She looked over at the warehouse and spotted Jason's bike. She got to her feet and headed for the warehouse. If he was back, maybe Rory was free now, and they could meet earlier than they planned.

****

~Cliff~

"Is this where the caller said?" Frank Scanlon asked his partner Steve Grey.

"It's supposed to be. The turnout right after mile marker 138." Steve scanned the chart. "According to this anyway."

"I don't see a car or a person." Frank said bringing the ambulance to a stop, pulling on the turnout on the side of the road.

"Well the car was supposed to have gone over the cliff Frank, we wouldn't see the car." Steve explained with a grin.

Frank glared at him. "Just for that you get to go check the cliff."

"Oh man." Steve said getting out of the ambulance and heading for the cliff. He looked over the edge into the lake below. The sun was hitting the water at such an angle that it was impossible to make out anything below the surface reflection. He turned back to Frank and shook his head.

Frank sighed reaching for the radio. "Dispatch this is Unit 21."

__

"Go ahead 21."

"That call to Highway 81 is a bogus one."

__

"Copy that, return to base."

"Unit 21 out."

Steve had just stepped away from the edge when he heard something that sounded like a moan. He turned back studying the rocky slope. He spotted a woman lying on the side of the cliff. He hurried towards the vehicle. "Frank we got a woman on the cliff about 150 feet down."

Frank picked up the radio again. "Unit 21 to dispatch."

__

"Go ahead 21."

"You better send a crew, we have a woman over the cliff about 150 feet below."

__

"Copy that, PCPD and Fire Rescue will be notified."

"21 out." Frank said getting out of the ambulance to help Steve with the gear. "Looks like we're going rock climbing."

****

~Warehouse~

"What sort of problem Johnny?" Sonny asked leaning against the desk. From his casual stance you would think he could care less. But Johnny saw the sharpness in his boss's eyes, and knew he was bracing himself.

"I checked the rope, it was frayed, so that is why it snapped."

"And?" Jason asked.

"Dean told me that the rope on that pulley system had just been replaced yesterday, with a brand new one." Johnny walked into the room setting a section of the rope on the desk.

Jason crossed to the desk to study the rope. "This isn't new."

"I know." Johnny said. "I talked to Dean, he replaced it personally yesterday. He swears this isn't the same rope."

Sonny picked up the end of the rope to see where it had snapped, it did look like it was just frayed, but that probably wasn't the case. "Johnny you better check the rest of the pulleys."

"Yes sir, Dean's already started." Johnny told him before heading outside the office closing the door behind him.

Jason looked at Sonny but didn't voice the question that he knew was going through both of their minds. If it wasn't an accident, and it was beginning to look like it wasn't, who was the target? Was it him and by extension Sonny? Or was it intended for anyone in the warehouse, and he had just gotten caught?

"It's been quiet around here, no whisperings of anything, and I've been listening real close." Sonny said finally.

"No one could have known I would be under that crate when it finally snapped." Jason commented. Only that wasn't true. He had left his jacket on the last crate, giving somebody plenty of time to rig the pulley, knowing eventually he would be back there.

Sonny nodded in agreement, picked the phone up, and dialed. "Pete."

__

"Yes Mr. Corinthos?"

"Is everything okay there?"

__

"Yes sir. Mrs. Corinthos is in a meeting with Mrs. Spencer."

Sonny sighed in relief. "Keep your eyes open today. I want you to keep an eye out for anything strange."

__

Pete straightened and stepped away from Elton's prying ears. "Is there a situation I need to be aware of?"

"I don't know." Sonny ran his hand over his chin. "Just be extra careful today. If you even smell anything you don't like get back up."

__

"Yes sir."

"Try not to tip her off." Sonny told him before hanging up.

"What about Michael?" Jason asked.

"He's at the Penthouse with Leticia. He had a little cough today, so we kept him out of pre-school."

"Good." Jason moved back to the window. Thanks to what Johnny had found out, his uneasiness over not being able to reach Rory had only grown. His own aches were forgotten. He racked his brain trying to figure out where she could be.

"Do you want me to get some people to look for her?"

"They wouldn't know where to look." Jason turned back from the window. "Besides if she thinks someone is following her, she likes to play with them, you know how she is."

Sonny nodded. "What…" He broke off when a knock sounded on the door. "Yeah Johnny?"

"It's Ms. Quartermaine." Johnny announced opening the door slightly. "She wants to see Jason."

Jason nodded and Johnny opened the door letting Emily inside.

"Hi." Emily said quickly. "I don't want to interrupt you. I just saw your bike and I thought if you were done with your meeting with Rory we could meet earlier than we planned."

Jason crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you mean my meeting with Rory?"

"Are you okay?" Emily ignored the question crossing to him in concern when she saw the bandage on his forehead.

"I'm fine. I just had a little accident." He waved off her concern. "Now what about Rory?"

"Well we were going to meet today and…" She trailed off. She wasn't about to tell Jason that she was going to a clinic with Rory to have a pregnancy test. "Talk."

"Why did you think she was here?" Sonny asked.

"Well." She turned to look at Sonny. "We were going to meet at 11:00 a.m. but she said she had to meet you." She focused on Jason again. "So she pushed it to 11:30, when I saw your bike I thought you might be done."

"Did she say where she was going to meet me?" Jason asked quickly, he didn't like the sound of this.

"No." Emily answered. She could tell he was worried. "Jason what's wrong?"

"Think back Emily did she say anything else." Jason asked, reaching out and catching her hands. "Try to remember."

"She was laughing." Emily closed her eyes trying to remember the conversation. "She said she had to meet you." Her eyes flew open. "I heard a rustling sound like she was reading from a piece of paper."

"Like she was reading a note from me?" Jason pressed. "Do you know where she was when you talked to her?"

"Jakes." Emily caught his hand when he went to move around her. "You didn't leave her that note did you?"

"No."

"God Jason where is she?" Emily asked the concern evident on her face.

"I don't know." Jason gave her a quick hug to reassure her. "But I will find her." He stepped back and looked at Sonny. "Sonny will you…"

"Go on I'll handle it." Sonny interrupted.

"Call me when you find her." Emily called after him.

"I will." Jason said heading out the door.

"This day keeps getting weirder and weirder. First this morning with Nikolas, then what happened to Lucky, Jason's accident and now Rory." Emily muttered softly.

Sonny stepped closer. "What happened to Lucky?"

"Someone tried to drown him."

****

~Cliff~

"I got a pulse, it's weak and thready, but it is a little stronger since I popped her shoulder back in place." Frank told Steve unhooking the cable wire on the roll cage and picking up one side of the cage they had used to get the woman up the side of the cliff.

Steve and some other firefighters moved into help on either side and they headed for the ambulance. The once deserted turnout was now a hub of activity. Police and rescue personnel littered the area, like ants.

"Has she said anything?" Officer Watts asked moving over to question Frank.

"She was conscious briefly." Frank told him. "When I set her shoulder she slipped back under and hasn't woken since." He shifted, lifting the cage to put it on a stretcher inside the ambulance. Steve hopped inside to secure it.

"Did she give you her name? Or did you find any I.D. on her?"

"She just moaned." Frank said shutting one of the doors. "We checked but she didn't have any I.D. on her, it's probably still in the car." Frank slammed the other door and headed to the front of the vehicle. "We're taking her to GH."

"Okay I'll be along later for a follow-up." Watts said stepping back.

"Wait." Frank paused halfway inside the door and pulled out a handkerchief. "This was stuck between her coat and her shirt."

Watts took the handkerchief from him, he could tell from the weight that it was quality, probably some sort of linen. He focused on the initials in the corner. EM. "Thanks I'll try to track her down." He said finally handing the handkerchief back to Frank.

Frank nodded and started the engine, he hit the sirens and headed back towards town.

Watts stopped a passing patrolman. "Were you able to get close enough to read the plates on her car yet?"

"Johnson's down there now. The car is close enough to the surface, that he should be able to get the license number's soon."

"Good." Watts moved back to the cliff. With any luck they would soon know the names that matched those initials.

****

~Jakes~

Jason let himself into their room and felt a rush of disappointment she wasn't there. He knew when her car wasn't in the lot, she probably wouldn't be but still he had let himself hope. He moved to the desk, to look for the note. He saw the money that he had left for Jake still there but no note.

"Damn'it." She must have taken it with her, he said after glancing around the room. His eyes fell on the soft blue dress she had worn last night, which was now hanging on the closet door. He walked over and touched the soft material. Had he told her how beautiful she had looked? Probably not, he sighed, he never remembered to tell her things like that, at least not verbally.

__

"Thanks for the compliment." Rory said sliding into the seat opposite him. "You look pretty good yourself."

Jason looked at her in surprise. "I didn't say anything." He shifted guiltily. "But you do look nice tonight."

"It's our second date, I thought I would make an effort." She smiled at him. "And you did tell me, but it's nice to hear the words just the same."

"So how did I tell you then?" He asked resting his elbows on the table. She was so unusual she fascinated him.

"Your eyes told me when you first saw me." She said patting his hand. He felt the jolt of electricity from that light contact all the way through him. "You might not have said the words, but I saw them in your eyes."

Jason turned his hand over to lace their fingers. "Good because I'm not always good with words."

"With those eyes you don't have to be." She shot back. Her eyes widened and she changed the subject. "So I am actually going to get fed on this date right?"

He smiled he knew her admission had caught her off guard. "It's not my fault you didn't eat last night. You were the one who started the fight, by throwing your food."

"I didn't throw it." Rory retorted, her eyes glowing in laughter at the memory. "I simply rammed the plate in that guys face."

"Well if you control your urges tonight you might get something to eat."

"Control my urges around you? Yeah right."

"What did you say?" Jason asked. Did he just hear what he thought he did?

"Let's order." Her voice was muffled, because she was hidden by the menu. "I'm starved Morgan."

Jason unclenched his hand and released the fabric, he ran his hand over it to smooth out the wrinkles he had caused. He could never find the words but she didn't seem to mind. She had once said she could talk enough for both of them. He focused on the dress again. So why was it so hard to say the most important words? "I love you Rory." He whispered. He turned away heading for the door. Now all he had to do was find her and tell her.

****

~Warehouse~

"What do you mean?" Sonny asked. Who would try to kill Lucky?

"I just saw Luke on the docks." Emily explained. "He said someone shoved Lucky in the river. Lucky's okay but he's at GH getting checked out."

"That's good." His spider senses were tingling. A lot of things had happened this morning, and none of them added up.

"I'm going to go back where I was supposed to meet Rory." Emily told him. "Maybe she'll show up."

He nodded. "Let me know. Where are you meeting her?"

"On the docks, by the bench at Bannister's Wharf."

"Be careful." Sonny said automatically.

"I will." She smiled briefly before heading out of the office and down the hall. Rory had to be okay, she could see how much she meant to Jason.

"Morning Sonny." Benny said walking into the office. He had waited for Emily to leave before making his presence known.

"Benny." Sonny greeted the man absently. His mind was still trying to piece together what was going on.

"Have you seen Jason?" Benny asked tapping a file. "I have the information he requested."

Sonny moved behind the desk. "He had to leave." Jason, Rory, and Lucky what did the three have in common? "You can leave it with me."

Benny hesitated. "He said it was for his eyes only."

Sonny looked up at Benny in surprise. "What is it?"

Benny sighed. "The police report on the death of Elizabeth Webber."

Elizabeth she was the common thread. Sonny held out his hand for the file.

****

~GH~

"We have a woman, late teens, early twenties. She's been unconscious for about 40 minutes now." Frank reported to the attending resident Dr. Karen Wexler. "She was conscious briefly at first contact, but she made no sense. Her left arm was dislocated upon setting it she passed out, and has not regained consciousness."

"Trauma 2." Karen said scanning the chart. "How about her extremities?"

"Muscle reflexes are good."

Karen ran a penlight over the girl's blue non-responsive blue eyes. "What happened?"

"Apparently she dove out of her car, while it was going over a cliff." Frank said. "The police are still on-scene they will be here shortly. She had no I.D. on her."

"Possible concussion and head injury, we need neurology on this." Karen told the nurse, "Please page the attending neurologist."

"Yes doctor." Melissa the nurse answered stepping away to the intercom.

Frank's beeper went off. "Anything else?"

__

"Dr. Jones to Trauma 2, Dr. Jones to Trauma 2."

"No thanks Frank." Karen said looking up to smile at him.

Frank winked back and stepped back through the doors. "Excuse me Dr. Jones."

"Frank." Dr. Tony Jones said briefly moving inside the room. "What do we got?" He asked pulling on his latex gloves.

"A woman, early twenties, she dove out of her car as it was going over a cliff. She has been unconscious for at least 40 minutes, she was awake but not lucid when she was first found. Her reflexes are good, and her pupils are responsive, but there might be some pressure on the brain." Karen reported.

"Can we clean some of the blood and dirt off her face, so I can get a better look at that cut?" Tony requested, after checking the girl's eyes himself, before moving down to check out her reflexes himself.

Melissa stepped up and removed some of the dried blood from the girl's face.

Tony moved back to the head. "Oh my God."

"What?' Karen asked noticing the way he paled. "Do you know her?"

"She's Elizabeth." He shook his head. "But that's impossible, Elizabeth is dead. What is her name?"

"There was no I.D. on her." Karen answered. "Do we need to get another Doctor, or can you go on?"

"No." Tony said moving again. "She just looks like someone I used to know. Let's continue with the exam."

****

~PCPD~

Taggert paused by the dispatch desk, and waited for Garcia to catch up. He had decided to let Garcia pitch the idea to put the Corinthos-Morgan Warehouse back under 24-hour surveillance. Now that Morgan was back in town, he knew it was only a matter of time before something bad happened in Port Charles.

He took a drink of his lukewarm coffee. Garcia would have a better chance than him of getting through to Mac. He shook his head in amazement. Here he was a cop, the good guy, and he had more citations against him because of Corinthos and Morgan than they did. He got reprimands and they skated, that was just wrong.

__

"Dispatch this is Watts." A staticy voice came over the airwaves.

"Go ahead Watts." Lily said smiling up at an oblivious Taggert. The man was so good looking, but so serious, if he just looked her way she would lighten him up.

__

"Did you get any information on those plates I asked you to run?"

"Illinois plates, DWG 012?" Lily asked.

__

"Yes." Watts said.

Taggert shifted glancing at his watch. What was taking so long? Mac had to agree that Morgan being back in town could only lead to trouble.

"The car is registered to a Rory Nichols of 1711 Freemont Dr., Chicago, Illinois." Lily said.

"What did you say?" Taggert asked focusing on Lily.

__

"Copy that out." Watts said.

"About the car?" Lily asked.

"Yes." Taggert snapped, before smiling down at the dark haired woman. "Who did you say it belonged to?"

"Rory Nichols."

Taggert continued looking at Lily, but he wasn't seeing her, he was remembering a conversation he'd had the day before.

__

"Miss what is your name?" Taggert asked softly trying to get through to her. Her resemblance to Elizabeth was quite astonishing and a little unnerving.

"Why? Don't you have a cute little nickname for me officer?"

"Lieutenant." He correct automatically. She didn't act like Elizabeth though. "Miss look at me."

She focused on him. "Nichols, my name is Rory Nichols."

"Lieutenant are you okay?" Lily asked touching his hand to get his attention.

"Why are you checking out her car?" Taggert demanded.

"It went over a cliff." Lily explained. His eyes were cold at the moment and they were fixed on hers. She watched in fascination as they began to blaze in anger.

"Is she dead?"

"No she's on route to GH." Lily told him.

Taggert nodded stepping back from the desk, Lily and Garcia forgotten. Anger and frustration coursed through him, yet another innocent victim was in the hospital all because of Morgan and Corinthos. He shook his head, heading for the door. This time they wouldn't get away with it. He would Get Rory Nichols away from them and then he would nail their asses to the wall.

****

~Warehouse~

"Hello."

__

"Sonny any word?"

"No." Sonny leaned back in his chair. "She wasn't at Jakes?"

__

"No. Neither was a note." Jason sighed looking around. "She's not at Kellys either."

Sonny glanced down at the open file on his desk. "I'll have some of the guys look for her. What's her plate number?"

__

"It's an Illinois tag, DWG 012." Jason said stepping out the door. "I'm going to check a few other places." He glanced at his watch it was only 11:20 it felt so much later than that.

"Keep in touch." Sonny said hanging up.

****

~GH~

"I want a Cat scan of the temporal lobe." Tony ordered while watching the gurney head to the elevator.

"Anything interesting?" Bobbie asked walking up beside Tony and entering the Nurses station. "Tony what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I think I have." He leaned against the nurses station. "Bobbie it's the strangest thing. That girl." He gestured to the gurney by the elevator. "She looks exactly like Elizabeth Webber."

Bobbie glanced over to the gurney. "Do you know who she is?"

"No she doesn't have any I.D. and she's been unconscious since she got here." His pager went off. "Excuse me."

Bobbie hurried to the gurney to look at the woman. Yes it was her, Jason's friend, Rory Nichols. "Oh God."

"Bobbie are you okay?" Melissa asked.

Bobbie ignored her and hurried to the Nurses locker room. She opened her locker and fished her address book out of her purse. She found the number she needed and headed for the phone. She hoped Jason hadn't changed his cell number.

__

"Hello."

"Jason, thank God I reached you, it's Bobbie."

__

"Bobbie? What's wrong?" Jason asked shutting off the bike, he had been ready to leave Kelly's parking lot when his phone had rang.

"I need you to come to GH right away."

__

"What happened?" Jason asked.

"It's your friend Rory, she's been in an accident." Bobbie said softly. "I don't have all the details, yet, but you need to get here now."

__

Accident the word echoed through his head. "How bad?"

"I don't know."

__

"I'm on my way." Jason hung up and shoved the phone in his pocket. She had to be okay, he didn't know what he would do if she wasn't. He started the motorcycle with a roar and tore out of the parking lot in the direction of GH. The memory of her voice dogging him every step of the way.

****

~GH Parking Lot~

"She's still alive." Marin said as soon as the call was picked up.

__

"Well that's a good thing all around isn't it?"

"Yes." Marin agreed.

__

"I trust there won't be anymore mix-ups Mr. Marin."

Marin swallowed hard. "No." He hung up the phone. One day he was going to make Rory Nichols pay.


	23. You two are wierd

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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****

What If…

Chapter 22

****

~Docks~

Emily looked at her watch 11:50 a.m. and still no Rory. She hadn't liked the look in Jason's eyes when he'd left the warehouse. He was worried, and what was so strange was how easy it was for her to read the worry on his face. She knew she was closer to him than most anyone else besides, Sonny, Carly and now Rory, but normally even she couldn't read him that well. For him to show that, he must really be concerned.

She got up from the bench to move closer to the water. 11:52. "Rory I hope you just got lost somewhere." Emily whispered, if it was something else, she didn't know how her brother would handle it.

****

~GH~

Jason got off the elevator on 4 the Intensive Care Unit floor, where Bobbie worked. He had wasted five agonizing minutes searching E.R. for Rory or Bobbie only to find out that Bobbie was here. He didn't see anyone at the nurses station and was about to go behind it to try to find the records himself when he heard her behind him.

"Jason."

Jason turned around. "Where is she Bobbie?"

"She's still in X-ray." Bobbie moved past him and pulled a handwritten chart off the desk. "They are doing a series of cat scans as well as regular X-rays to check for broken bones in her left shoulder."

"How serious is it?" He demanded his voice rough. The long bike ride over here and his frustration of trying to find her had fueled an impatience in him that he didn't know he had. Now that he was here he didn't know what to expect.

"I don't know everything, I didn't work on her when she came in." Bobbie admitted. "I recognized her and called you. What information I have so far is sketchy. Apparently she was in a car accident and she's been unconscious since she's been here."

"Is there anything that is..." He paused. "Life-threatening?"

"No." Bobbie patted his hand. "From what I've found out from one of the nurses, she had a separated shoulder and a head injury. It's the head injury that is causing us some concern." She broke off calling to someone behind Jason. "Karen can you come here?"

"Yes Bobbie?" Dr. Karen Wexler asked walking up to stand beside Jason.

"You worked on the Jane Doe who was in a car accident right?"

"Early twenties brown hair, drove her car off a cliff?" Karen asked tiredly. She was coming off a double shift and it was getting hard to keep her patients straight in her head.

"Yes. Can you give us some details on her condition?" Bobbie asked. "She's his girlfriend."

For the first time Karen focused on the man in the leather jacket beside her, belatedly recognizing the man who had been her first boyfriend and good friend. She blinked in surprise when she saw the cold assessing look in his icy blue eyes. She reminded herself that the Jason she knew and had dated no longer existed.

"Jason overall she is very lucky. The paramedic set her separated shoulder on-scene, she had been conscious but not lucid until that point." She glanced at her watch. "She's been unconscious now for well over an hour. She has a head wound and a concussion, we're trying to check the severity of the injury with the MRI to see if there is any pressure on the brain."

"Which section of the brain are you particularly concerned with? The frontal or temporal lobe?" Jason asked.

Karen hid her surprise, he still had some of the medical knowledge that he used to have so long ago. "There is a slight indention on her left side, so we are checking the temporal lobe."

__

"Dr. Wexler to E.R., Dr. Wexler to E.R."

"I have to go Jason." Karen said apologetically. "She should be out of X-ray soon, Dr. Jones is treating her himself, and he's the best."

Jason nodded focusing on Bobbie again. "Dr. Jones?"

"He's back on staff here Jason." Bobbie explained. "He's not the head of neurology anymore but he is still a brilliant doctor."

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to battle back the anger he felt over the fact that Tony Jones was the one working on Rory.

"Jason." Bobbie said seeing the anger in his eyes. "She is in good hands, he's better now, and she will get the best care, I promise you."

"Even when he finds out about her connection to me?" Jason questioned. "Dr. Jones hates me, he's made no secret of that fact, so can you honestly guarantee me that he won't take it out on Rory?"

"Jason I realize that there is a lot of anger between the two of you, but he won't do anything to jeopardize his patients or his job."

"Really? You once thought he was incapable of kidnapping a baby or withholding medicine from an H.I.V. patient." Jason pressed. "He did that largely because of me. You can't tell me that you know for sure what he will or won't do."

Bobbie reluctantly saw the truth in Jason's words, and although she believed that Tony had changed, it was true that Jason seemed to set him off even more than Carly did. "I'll go up and stay with her whenever she needs treatment."

Jason sighed in relief. "Can you check on her now?"

"Yes." She pulled out some forms. "Can you fill these out regarding Rory's medical history and insurance information?" She paused for a minute before going on. "If it turns out that she needs surgery or a decision made regarding her treatment, are you qualified to make it?"

The pencil Jason had picked up snapped in his hand. He dimly heard Bobbie explaining how it was only procedure and Rory more than likely wouldn't need it, but the thought of her undergoing surgery rocked him. "Yes." He said finally. "I have her medical power of attorney."

"Good." Bobbie said. "I'll go up now."

"When can I see her?"

"As soon as she is brought back down I'll try to get you in." Bobbie patted his hand again and hurried off.

Jason moved slowly over to the lounge and sat, staring blindly at the forms for a long time.

__

"What's this?" Rory asked taking the paper he held out to her.

"It's a medical power of attorney." Jason explained sitting carefully on the overflowing bed.

"A power of attorney? Why do I need that?" Rory asked looking at the paper again. "Wait this has your name on it."

"Yes. I'll have one naming you, and you'll have one naming me." He gestured to the clothes strewn over the bed and the half packed suitcases. "Just in case something happens to one of us while were traveling the other one can make decisions."

"Well that's a cheery thought." She muttered setting the paper on the dresser.

"We probably will never need them, but just in case we do, we'll have them."

Rory crossed over to him and straddled his lap, sending a suitcase that was perched precariously on the bed crashing to the floor. "I never knew you were so practical." She said kissing him lightly on the mouth. 'It's kind of sexy." She whispered before moving to trail kisses on his jaw line.

"I have my moments." He said slipping his hand under her shirt to move it in lazy circles over her bare back. She had just gotten out of the shower and her skin was still soft and warm, she smelled of vanilla. He arched his head giving her mouth better access.

"So." She said moving her mouth to his ear. "In that case, don't you think that I should know…" She took his earlobe between her teeth and nipped it lightly before letting it go. "Where the pink slip to the bike is just in case something happens to you?"

With his free hand, he reached up and tangled it in her hair, pulling on it softly until he could see her face. "No."

"Now Jason this is all about trust." She replied humor dancing in her eyes. She leaned forward and his hand moved as well until it cupped the back of her head, while she kissed him again, this time the pressure was longer and deeper, when she finally pulled back, both of them were breathing heavily. "Don't you trust me?"

"I trust you with my health decisions." He smiled at her catching her bottom lip in his teeth for a minute, causing her eyes to flash in response. "But I don't trust you with my bike."

"Morgan." She snapped smothering a laugh when he fell back on the bed, and rolled her over so he covered her body with his. He supported his upper body on his elbow, while his hand slipped around to cup her breast. "I'll get that bike yet." She warned him before dragging his mouth back down to hers.

Jason blinked back the memory and focused on the forms in his hand again. Date of Birth, he wrote in November 3, 1980.

****

~Warehouse~

"Johnny I said I didn't want to be disturbed." Sonny snapped when the door opened.

"It's Detective Taggert." Johnny said.

Taggert brushed past Johnny into the room. "Lieutenant."

Johnny looked at Sonny who nodded at him in dismissal, and Johnny backed out of the room closing the door behind him.

Sonny flipped the file he was looking at closed and leaned back in his chair to focus on Taggert. "Do you need some coffee Lieutenant? Because we have some Bavarian Roast on sale now that is to die for."

"Cut the act Corinthos." Taggert snapped. "Where's your flunky the mute?"

"I don't remembering hiring a mute." Sonny commented moving another file over the police folder on Elizabeth Webber's death that he had been looking at. He flipped the new file open and ran his finger down the page. "Nope not a single mute on the list."

"That's right make jokes." Taggert snapped. "You make jokes and sit in your comfortable office while the people around you pay the price. You disgust me Corinthos."

"Careful Taggert that sounds an awful lot like an insult." Sonny warned him. "How many more reprimands can your jacket take?"

"Oh I'll be around long enough to see you and anger boy behind bars where you belong." Taggert taunted resting his hands on the desk to lean on it facing Sonny. "The only question is how many more innocent people will you and Morgan kill before I do?"

"Taggert is there a point? I thought Alexis made it clear to your superiors and they made it clear to you, that these little harassment visits, wouldn't be tolerated anymore."

"You want me gone? Give me Morgan."

"I didn't know he was your type Taggert, no wonder you and Hannah broke up." Sonny said with a smirk.

"Give me Morgan now." Taggert snapped.

Sonny looked around the room. "He doesn't seem to be here Taggert, maybe it's time to get your eyes checked again."

"Where is he?" Taggert demanded.

"Not here."

"How convenient, his girlfriend's in the hospital and he's missing." Taggert smirked at Sonny. "You taught him well Corinthos."

Sonny lurched to his feet amusement gone. "What do you mean his girlfriend is in the hospital?"

Taggert was happy that he finally rattled Sonny. "Rory Nichols. I warned her less than 24 hours ago what would happen if she stayed with Morgan." He headed for the door. "Too bad for her she didn't listen."

Sonny followed him out of the office. "Taggert what the hell happened to Rory?"

"The same thing that happens to anyone who is around you Corinthos." Taggert turned to face his nemesis. His hatred of Corinthos ran deep and the longer it took to nail him the deeper it ran. "They die."

"Rory's dead?"

Taggert turned around to face a pale Emily Quartermaine he could see the fear in her face and the tears forming in her eyes. "Is she dead?"

Taggert cursed himself for letting his temper get the better of him. "No she's not dead."

"But you said…"

"She's at the hospital." Taggert explained focusing on Sonny who had come up to stand beside Emily. "Apparently her car went over a cliff."

"Is she okay?" Sonny asked slipping his arm around Emily to support her.

"She's in the hospital, no doubt, thanks to her association with Morgan and you." Taggert snapped.

"Jason wouldn't hurt her." Emily retorted.

"Others would, to get to him, so it's just like he hurt her himself." Taggert replied.

"Enough Taggert get out." Sonny snapped.

Taggert arched a brow at Sonny.

"Unless you have a warrant get the hell out."

"Fine." Taggert said with a smirk. "I'll just go find anger boy."

"Sonny." She turned to him when Taggert left. "You can't let Taggert tell Jason."

"I won't." He hugged her briefly. He turned around, to yell for Johnny, but he was already there with his coat. Sonny took it from him and pulled his cell phone out of the pocket. "I'll call him on the way to the hospital."

"Let's go then." Emily said heading for the door.

Sonny started to follow her when the phone in his hand rang. "Yeah?"

__

"Sonny it's me."

"Jason I was just about to call you." Sonny stopped just outside the door. "I have to tell you."

__

"Later." Jason interrupted. "I found Rory she's in the hospital."

"I know."

__

"What?" Jason asked. "How?"

"Taggert was just here looking for you, he's probably heading for the hospital now." Sonny warned him.

__

"I don't care about Taggert." Jason said rubbing the back of his neck. "I need you to get someone over to Jakes. There is a green file in the top drawer of the desk. I need you to get that to me at the hospital."

"I'll get it." Sonny paused by the door to the limo. "What's in it?"

__

"Power of attorneys."

Sonny heard the worry in Jason's voice. "How bad is she hurt?"

__

"She has a head injury." Jason looked back towards the nurse's station. "Here comes Bobbie, I've got to go." He said abruptly hanging up the payphone.

"Johnny" Sonny said closing his phone. "Get someone over to Jakes and pick up a green folder from his desk and get it over to GH."

"Right away."

"Johnny have them hurry." Sonny said getting in the limo.

****

~GH 5th Floor~

"Nikolas this is ridiculous, I swallowed some water. How much longer are they going to keep me here?" Lucky asked with a groan. "I've been here for hours already."

Nikolas shook his head. "It's only a little after noon, you've only been here for about an hour and a half."

"It feels like hours." Lucky snapped. "I have things to do. I'm ready to leave."

"Lucky you swallowed the water that is in the Port Charles River, the mere fact that you did that and are still alive means you are a medical miracle." Nikolas teased. "They need to test that."

"Don't remind me, I still have that god awful taste in my mouth." Lucky grimaced.

"So you ready to tell me what happened?" Nikolas asked sitting on a stool.

"Someone shoved me in the water and threw a net over me trying to drown me." Lucky shrugged. "If it hadn't been for Alexis I would have died."

"You mean it was deliberate?"

"Yes." 

"Did you see who it was?" Nikolas asked.

"No but I've got a pretty good idea." Lucky said getting off the bed to look out the window. "Too bad for him it didn't work."

"Him?" Nikolas questioned. 

Lucky turned around and nodded. "Him."

Nikolas shook his head. "You don't think it was…"

"Jason." Lucky nodded again. "He tried to kill me."

****

~GH 4th Floor~

"Bobbie how is she?" Jason demanded when he reached her.

"She's still unconscious. She should be back down in a few minutes. We won't get the results from her tests for at least an hour." Bobbie told him. "Tony's on his way down, he can tell you more."

Jason nodded and moved away from her to focus on the elevators. She had to be okay, somehow she had worked her way so deep in his heart he couldn't imagine her not being there.

The elevator doors opened and he watched a blonde nurse push a gurney out of it. He focused on Rory, she was so pale she seemed to melt in the sheets, the only color on her face was the stark bandage on her forehead and a ring of dark bruises that were forming on the left side of her face. He crossed to her to take her right hand in his, it was lax, unresponsive and cold. That surprised him, she was always so warm.

"Excuse me sir." The blonde nurse said. "We need to get the patient settled, you need to move."

"Rory." He said softly.

"Excuse me?"

"Her name is Rory." He told her icily. "Not the patient."

The nurse stepped back slightly. "Fine please move so I can get Rory settled."

"I'll do it Melissa." Bobbie said from behind her. "Rory and I go way back." She explained moving in front of her to move the gurney. "I've got her now."

Jason started to follow Rory in the room.

"Where do you think you're going?"

****

~GH 5th Floor~

"Lucky you can't think Jason tried to kill you?" Nikolas asked.

"Of course it was Jason he would do anything to hang onto Elizabeth."

"Lucky." Nikolas groaned. "She isn't Elizabeth her name is Rory." How many times would he have to explain that to Lucky before he finally heard him?

Lucky shook off his words. "She is Elizabeth and I'll make her remember that. Jason must be getting worried, so he tried to kill me."

"Lucky think about it." Nikolas argued, keeping his voice even, hoping to get through. He had to nip this thought in the bud, before trouble came from it. "If Jason was concerned about you, why would he have brought Rory to Port Charles in the first place?"

"Well…" Lucky stopped he didn't have an answer for that.

"Also look at what he does for a living. If he wanted you dead you would be dead." Nikolas pressed his point. "And he wouldn't do it on a public dock in the middle of the day."

Lucky was quiet as much as he hated to admit it, Nikolas's argument was making sense.

"Besides up until he came back this time with Rory you two were friends. Last summer when he tracked Emily down after Zander kidnapped her, you two even worked together to get her back. Before that he gave you a job and a place to live when you left home. Do you really think he would try to kill you?"

Lucky sat back down on the bed with a loud sigh. "No he wouldn't. I think I knew that, but thanks for the illustrations."

"That's what big brothers are for." Nikolas said with a straight face. "To keep the younger brothers from making too much of an ass out of themselves, although in your case I have my work cut out for me."

"Watch it Princey." Lucky shot back with a grin.

It was the grin that surprised Nikolas. Emily was right Lucky was back. The shell of the man that had been Lucky for the past two years was gone and his brother was back. He was thrilled and concerned because he knew the reasons for Lucky's return to the living.

"So that leaves one question."

Nikolas focused back on what his brother was saying. "What?"

"Since Jason didn't try to kill me, who did?" Lucky asked.

****

~Jakes~

Marin paused inside the back door of Jakes, listening for anyone down the hall, but the music from the jukebox was so loud, he couldn't hear anything. He edged down the hall to look in the opening to the main room. He saw Jake behind the counter re-stocking the bar and quickly pulled back out of sight.

"Delivery Jake."

Marin heard the male voice and risked another glance inside the room. Jake had moved out from behind the bar to check in the order. He moved quickly up the stairs and headed down the hall to Jason and Rory's room. 

Since it looked like this assignment was going to last longer than he thought, he needed to replace the bug in the phone. He liked to be prepared and the client had also requested to be kept up to date with what Morgan and Rory were up to and this client was one client he didn't want to piss off. He still remembered the ice in the voice when Marin had admitted that he thought he had killed Rory.

Marin shut off the memory and opened the door slipping inside the room, he moved directly to the phone and replaced the bug. A minute later he was back outside the room. He had just turned to walk down the hall, when a man turned the corner heading towards him. Both men looked at each other warily neither one saying a word.

Marin could tell from the other man's eyes and stance that he was hard and used to violence. His right hand tensed, his wrist angling towards the release that would trigger the hidden stiletto in his sleeve.

"Francis what's taking so long?" A male voice drifted up the stairs.

Francis never took his eyes off the other guy his hand edging closer to his gun. There was something about the other man's eyes that set him off.

"Francis?" The voice called again.

Marin eased the tension in his arm and moved past Francis without a word. He passed the other man coming up the stairs while he went down them. The new man barely even glanced at him, but Marin knew that this Francis had been assessing him, and would remember him. It was too risky to take him out now, but this Francis was now a loose end that would have to be dealt with eventually.

"Why didn't you answer me Francis?"

Francis stared in the direction the man had disappeared in. "Did you recognize that guy Cal?"

"No, but I barely looked at him." Cal answered. "Why?"

"It looked like he was coming out of a room down here."

"So?" Cal asked not really seeing where Francis was taking this, but he was new on the job and was trying not to make a complete ass out of himself. Judging from the looks Francis kept giving him, it wasn't working.

"So, Jake said Jason's is the only room that is rented up here, so he had no business being up here." Francis explained moving towards the door cautiously. "Let's get the file to the hospital and then deal with what that means."

****

~GH 4th Floor~

Jason turned around slowly saying nothing.

"I said where do you think you're going Jason?" Tony asked again.

"With Rory."

"Rory?" Tony asked. "You mean my patient? What connection do you have with her?"

"She's my girlfriend." Jason said coldly. His face giving away none of the anger he felt over having to explain himself to this man.

"I should have known." Tony cried in disgust. "Someone else that has to pay the price for knowing you."

"Do you have the test results Dr. Jones?" Jason asked refusing to respond to Tony's taunt.

"Are you her husband or next of kin?" Tony asked.

"No."

"Then I'm afraid I can't tell you anything." Tony said with a sneer. "Now move I need to check on my patient."

Jason shifted so he was in Tony's path. "I think you better re-think that."

Tony looked at him and backed off a step. "Are you threatening me? Acting like the good little thug I always knew you were?"

Jason took a step closer causing Tony to take one in retreat.

"Jason." Sonny appeared at his side. "What's going on?"

"He won't tell me about Rory." Jason said never taking his eyes off Tony.

"Hospital regulations." Tony explained with a jeering smile. "I can't discuss the status of a patient with non family."

"But he has her Power of Attorney." Sonny told him.

"Really let's see it." Tony held out his hand. "I didn't think so. So move out of my way before I call security, I have a patient to check."

Tony began to move forward again and Jason moved slightly to let him pass. He had raised his hand to push open the door when Jason's words stopped him cold.

"Robin isn't here this time, so if anything happens to her..." 

The words were softly spoken, the threat not even finished, but that didn't diminish the menace they contained or the fear they awoke in him. Tony swallowed hard and walked in the room.

Emily crossed over to Jason once Tony left. "How is she?"

"I don't know." Jason moved to the door to look at her through the window. "She's been unconscious for over an hour and that's not good."

Emily moved to stand beside him, slipping an arm around his waist to offer support. "She's strong, she'll be okay."

"I know." Jason said roughly. "But when I saw her on that stretcher." He paused and when he went on his voice was full of emotion. "I never saw her look so small."

Sonny had moved over to the payphone and dialed a number.

__

"Alexis Davis."

"Alexis it's Sonny I need you to get to GH, the fourth floor as soon as you can."

__

Alexis pulled off her glasses. "Are you hurt? Is Michael?"

"No we're fine." Sonny glanced over at Jason who was still by the door. "It's Jason's girlfriend, Rory, she was in a car accident."

__

"Oh no." Alexis said stuffing some files in her briefcase. "Is she badly injured?"

"I don't know. Jason has her medical power of attorney but Tony still won't tell him anything. Taggert has already been over to the warehouse looking for Jason it's only a matter of time before he shows up here." Sonny sighed. "I need you here when that happens to keep him away from Jason."

__

"I thought Jason was the cool headed one in your partnership and you were the hothead?"

"Not at the moment."

__

"I'm on my way." Alexis said.

Sonny hung up the phone and headed for Jason and Emily.

"I'll go find Mom, she'll tell us what is going on with Rory." Emily said giving Jason a hug before moving off.

Sonny moved into her place beside Jason to look in on Rory. Jason was right, at the moment she did look small. "Francis should be here soon. Once you have the paperwork Tony will have to talk to you."

Jason nodded. "She's so still. She's never still, even when she sleeps. Sometimes trying to hold onto her is impossible because she likes to move." He turned to look at Sonny. "But now…"

"Emily's right she's strong she'll be okay." Sonny said trying to reassure him. After a minute more of watching through the window he spoke again. "I'll be right back." Jason gave no sign that he even heard him.

Sonny moved to the payphone again.

__

"Deception. How may I help you?" Elton's perky voice came over the line.

"I need to speak with Carly."

__

"I'm so sorry Mr. Corinthos." Elton chirped. "She's in a meeting with Mrs. Spencer and they left instructions not to be disturbed."

"Elton put her on the damn phone now." Sonny snapped.

__

"Um." Elton paled. "Certainly sir." He placed Sonny on hold. "Well someone got up on the wrong side of the gun today."

Elton crossed over to the closed door to Mrs. Spencer's office. "I'm sorry to interrupt."

"Then don't Elton." Carly snapped. Dealing with Laura had given her a tension headache, a conversation with Elton sure wouldn't improve it.

Maybe she was the one holding the gun, Elton thought nastily, before speaking. "Your husband is on line three he says he has to talk to you."

"Well why didn't you say so." Carly said heading for the phone. "Hey baby."

Some of the tension went out of him when he heard her voice. "Carly I have to tell you something."

__

"Are you okay? Is Michael?" She could hear the worry in his voice.

"No Michael's fine." Sonny paused. "It's Rory."

__

"Rory?" Carly asked puzzled. "What's wrong with her? Did her big mouth land her in some trouble?"

"She was in a car accident."

__

"God is she okay? Was Jason with her?" Carly demanded.

"No she was alone, we're at the hospital waiting for word."

__

"I'm on my way." Carly said quickly. "How is Jason?"

"He's holding everything in, but he's strung real tight." Sonny rubbed his jaw. "She has a head injury and Tony's the one working on her."

__

"Him?" Carly cried. "Keep him the hell away from her. I'm on my way."

"Good." Sonny quietly.

__

"I love you Sonny." She said before hanging up the phone and racing out of the office yelling for Pete.

"Jason?" Dr. Monica Quartermaine stopped a few feet away from her son. Emily had told her he was back in town but she'd never thought she would see him at the hospital.

He turned to face her and her breath caught in her throat, when she saw the bandage on his face and the worry in his eyes. "Monica."

"Are you okay?" Monica closed the distance between them to touch his arm. Concern for her son overriding her common sense at the moment. She knew he didn't like to be touched, but to her surprise he didn't draw away from her.

"I'm okay." He turned back to the window. "It's Rory."

"Rory?" Monica repeated before looking through the window. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"Yes she was in a car accident and no one will tell me how she is." Jason turned to look at her again and for once his expression was easy to read. "Mom they won't tell me."

Monica felt the sting of tears at the back of her eyes and quickly blinked them back. Jason had already turned back to the window, so she knew he wasn't aware that he called her Mom, and that made it so much more special to her. He'd only called her Mom and meant it once, since he had woken up from his coma. "I'll go inside and check on her." She said when she knew she could speak without crying. "I'm a heart surgeon, but I know enough to get by."

"Thanks." Jason backed off and let her in the room.

Sonny intercepted Francis as soon as he stepped off the elevator. "Did you get it?"

Francis held out the file. "There's something else."

"What?" Sonny asked.

"There was a man on the floor near Jason's room. There was no reason for him to be there, Jake said Jason was the only tenant." Francis paused. "Something about the guy didn't feel right."

Sonny nodded and took the file from him. "Alright call Benny have him get a crew over there and check Jason's room for bugs, explosives anything. When they're done have them pack up all of their things and have them brought over to Jason's penthouse." Sonny hesitated. "For now don't say anything to Jason."

"Yes sir." Francis stepped away.

"Francis when you're done come back here, you're on Rory from now on."

Francis nodded and glanced at the payphone then headed for the stairs, pulling out his cell phone to make the call outside in privacy.

Tony and Monica walked out of Rory's room. "Tony he has a right to know the details."

"I'm sorry Monica but the privacy of my patient overrides your son's right to know." Tony said abruptly.

"Then this ought to clear up matters." Sonny interrupted them shoving a paper in Tony's hand.

"What's this?"

"It's Rory's power of attorney giving Jason the right to know."

Tony looked down at the paper. "And I'm supposed to believe that this is worth the paper it is printed on because?"

Jason stepped closer to Tony. Tony recognized the look on the other man's face. It was the same look he had given Tony right before he smashed the butt of a rifle on his hand.

"Let me see that Tony." Alexis called heading over to the tense scene while Sonny backed Jason off. She scanned the document. "It's legitimate, signed before a notary public, and gives Jason the right to make decisions for her in lieu of her incapacity." She looked up at Tony. "So I'd start talking if I were you."

"Do it or I will remove you from her case." Monica warned him.

"You can't."

"I'm still Chief of Staff so start talking."

"Fine. Her separated shoulder was clean, the X-ray showed no broken bones, and the MRI results of that area showed no nerve pressure. She will be in a sling for a week possibly two to immobilize it, but it should heal with no problems. As for the head injury." He glanced at his watch. "She has been unconscious for almost two hours and that is not good, her pupils are sluggish although she does react to outside stimuli."

"So she has a concussion?" Sonny asked.

"Yes but until she wakes up we won't know the severity, whether there is any short term or long term memory loss or any loss of motor functions."

"Did the MRI show any swelling or fluid buildup around the brain?" Jason asked.

"I don't have those results back yet." He was surprised at Jason's pointed question. "There is some bruising around the temporal lobe, more than likely it's from hitting a rock when she jumped out of the car."

"The temporal lobe?" Jason repeated. Pausing for a moment while facts regarding the temporal lobe entered his head. He was always surprised at what he remembered during medical situations. "How are her reflexes then? Is she spasming on her right side?"

Tony blinked in shock. "So far she is in the normal range. I don't have the results back, once I do I will let you know." With that he turned and stepped back inside her room.

"What does that mean about her reflexes?" Sonny asked not really surprised when Jason answered instead of Monica.

"If she has a broken bone or tear in the area of her temporal lobe, fluid can build up on the brain. The temporal lobe controls muscle reflexes in the body. With the pressure the fluid can cause on the brain the muscles tend to spasm more and the reflexes are to broad with no real control." He recited dully.

"What would that mean to her recovery?" Alexis asked.

Jason knew but didn't say it, instead he moved back to the door.

Monica glanced at Jason then explained to Sonny and Alexis, raising her voice when she saw Carly get off the elevator. "It depends on the severity of the tear or break and the amount of fluid on the brain. Best case scenario if she has a tear is a solid two weeks of bed rest, followed by a month or so in a wheelchair while she learns to control her muscles again, then a full recovery."

"And the worst case?" Carly asked slipping her hand in Sonny's.

"If the tear is severe enough she could never regain control of the muscles in her leg, so she would need to be in a wheelchair. Even though her legs would support her, she would have no control over it." Monica explained. "But until we get the MRI results this is all speculation. Like Tony said her reflexes are within the normal range right now." She turned to look at her son. "The most pressing problem is the fact she is still unconscious. The longer she remains so, the worse it can be."

****

~GH 5th Floor~

Emily walked around a corner and bumped into someone. "Sorry." She said immediately while the person reached out to steady her.

"Emily?" Nikolas said. "What are you doing here?"

Emily jerked her head up when she recognized his voice. "I-I was looking for my mom, her secretary said she had a meeting on this floor."

"Oh." Nikolas said. "Were you going to talk to her about the biopsy?"

"No." She had forgotten about the biopsy appointment with everything else that had happened today. Belatedly she realized that his hands were still on her arms and she stepped back breaking the contact. "It's about something else. Have you seen her?"

"No." Nikolas dropped his hands and studied her closely. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. It's not me." Emily averted her eyes. "I need to go and find her."

"Em." Nikolas said catching hold of her hand before she could move away. "What's wrong?"

She could see the concern in his dark eyes and the familiar feelings she had for him were welling up in her again, and even though she knew she shouldn't she couldn't seem to resist the plea in his eyes. "It's Rory she was in a car accident." She whispered.

"Is she okay?" Nikolas asked pulling her into a hug trying to comfort her.

"I don't know." Emily said softly melting into his arms. "Jason's worried." She pulled back slightly to look in his eyes. "I know I haven't known her for very long, but I really like her and I'm afraid that she's going to die."

"Who's going to die?" Lucky asked from behind Nikolas.

****

~GH 4th Floor~

Carly walked over to Jason and took her hand in his. He didn't even acknowledge that she was there. "She's a strong person Jason." Carly said finally. "Look she went head to head with me without flinching, so do you really think something like this will stop her?"

"I can't lose her Carly, not now."

"You won't. You had to go through hell to find her, so you won't lose her now." Carly told him. It was true Jason was the best man she knew and he was finally happy. She would be damned if she would let anything or anyone take that away from him. "If you want I'll go pick a fight with her, she'll wake up for that."

Jason turned slightly to smile at her. "Probably."

****

~Inside~

Bobbie set down the chart and moved towards the bed when she thought she heard a groan coming from Rory. "Rory can you hear me?" She reached down to check her pulse and Rory shifted on the bed, her eyes fluttering. "Tony she's waking up."

Tony moved to the bed, he pulled open her eyelids to check her pupils. They reacted to the light. "Rory can you hear me?"

"Mmmm." Rory moaned softly.

"I need you to open your eyes can you do that?" Tony asked.

Her eyes fluttered again before slowly opening. The light hurt her eyes so she shut them again with a groan. She moved her right hand up to try to cover her eyes, and Tony caught it bringing it back down to the bed.

****

~Outside~

Jason jerked when he saw them gather around the bed. "She's awake." He said in relief when he saw her hand move.

"Thank God." Carly said.

****

~Inside~

"Come on open your eyes." Tony ordered.

She opened her eyes slightly waiting until the light wasn't quite as bright before opening them all the way. She blinked bringing the overhead light into focus. She tried to turn her head to look around and let out a groan of pain as the room spun at the movement.

"Take it easy. Just focus on my voice for now."

__

"Focus on my voice."

"No." She mumbled in a low voice. "No more please."

"Calm down and don't try to move." Tony said.

__

"Don't move." The words echoed in her head.

She shifted on the bed, turning her head in spite of the pain to focus on the white-coated man beside her. "No." She repeated louder now. She shifted on the bed trying to get off of it on the other side. She let out a scream of pain when her movements jostled her sore shoulder.

Jason stepped inside the room when he heard her scream. He stayed back by the door, but his eyes were trained on the bed and an increasingly agitated Rory. Bobbie saw him come in but didn't have the heart to tell him to leave.

Rory was breathing hard almost hyper-ventilating and she continued her struggle to get off the bed.

Tony tried to keep her on the bed, by pressing on her non-injured shoulder, and she twisted her head trying to bite his hand. Tony let go of her quickly. "Prepare a syringe she's getting violent."

"No shot. No more shots." She cried moving to the edge of the bed.

Jason crossed to the bed. "Rory you're okay. You're safe.'

"Get him the hell out of here." Tony snapped.

Jason ignored him and picked up her hand, keeping a hold of it when she tried to pull away. "You're safe, I'm here."

"No more." She muttered but she didn't try to pull her hand away.

"Talk to her Jason, calm her down." Bobbie ordered she had noticed that Rory had locked on his voice when he spoke.

Jason crouched by the bed so he was eye level with her. Her eyes were unfocused and full of pain and confusion. "You're going to be fine, I'm here for you, you're not alone anymore."

Her eyes snapped to his but he didn't see any recognition in them, she moved again and moaned in pain. "Bobbie?"

"Just talk to her Jason."

Jason took a deep breath. "Did you know that New Zealand is only 269,000 sq. kilometers with a population of about 3.5 million people? Of them 12% of them are Maori's they're the natives of the country."

Her eyes remained locked on his and her struggles to get off the bed stopped. "It was discovered in 950 AD by a Polynesian navigator who named it Aotearoa which means Land of the Long White Cloud."

Her breathing had regulated itself and her eyes were slowly drifting shut. But her hand remained locked on his, so he kept talking to her about New Zealand.

Tony shook his head in disgust but didn't try to interrupt, what Jason was doing was working, she was calming down, with a sigh he checked her vitals, her heart rate was slowing.

****

~Outside~

"What happened?" Sonny asked.

"She woke up and lost it." Carly told him. "Jason's calming her down even though that bastard Tony tried to kick him out."

"She's awake." Sonny said in relief focusing on Jason.

****

~Inside~

"In 1769 the British explorer James Cook re-discovered the Island and seized it for the British Empire. It only gained its independence in 1947." He wished she would look at him again, even though he hated seeing the blank look in her eyes, he preferred it to her being unconscious.

She finally opened her eyes again, and blinked bringing him into focus. "Hi Morgan."

Jason grinned in relief. "Hi Rory, are you done sleeping?"

"Did you hit your head or something? You know I can't sleep without you." She said tiredly.


	24. Ball tickets for attempted murder charge...

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. The powers that be at General Hospital do. They just don't use them very well. There are some original characters in here as well.

Feedback: Is greatly appreciated. If you like it tell me why, if you don't, please tell me what you don't like. It's how I learn.

Author's notes: A lot of the characters on GH will be in this fic, if you don't see them right away give me time. I like fic's with a lot of characters in them, so that is how I write them.

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****

What If…

Chapter 23

****

~Cliff Road~

"So what do we have here Whitey?" Lieutenant Taggert asked the head crime scene technician when he arrived at the accident site.

"A couple of surprises, one of which is why I'm here." Dr. Aaron "Whitey" Ford said pushing his glasses up his nose. "I must admit I'm surprised to see you here LT I thought you only played in the big leagues now."

Taggert glared at him. He hated the LT that Whitey always called him, as usual though Whitey was oblivious. "I'm interested in all sorts of crime."

"Now who said this was a crime scene?" Whitey asked walking up the hill, towards the little flags that were stuck in the side of the road, marking points of interest, in the crash site. "You want to tell me why you requested me to be here?"

"Alright I'm interested in this, since I found out the victim's name was Rory Nichols." Taggert admitted, trekking up the hill after Whitey. He knew from experience that he had to answer Whitey's questions truthfully or he would wait for days for Whitey's report. "She happens to be Jason Morgan's girlfriend. Damn." He muttered under his breath when he stepped in some mud. He was scraping at his shoe, so he missed the sudden interest of one of the lab technicians, once he mentioned Morgan's name.

"Well that explains why I'm here instead of at lunch. I should have known when you showed up there was a Corinthos angle to this case." Whitey grumbled, as Director of Forensics, he didn't usually get called to traffic accidents.

"I needed the best." Taggert said with a smile, it was never too early to start the sucking up process.

"Well that's what you got." Whitey told him arrogantly. "Alright we backtracked for at least two miles, it was a quick scan, but there were no tire marks, or brake trails until here, about a quarter of a mile from impact."

Taggert studied the ground, even to his untrained eyes, he could see the extra rubber, and black marks on the pavement. The faint odor of burnt rubber hadn't yet vanished either.

"For some reason here is where we have the first indications of brakes." He pointed to the dark swirl marks. "Looks like she put the car in a spin."

"Deliberate?"

"Looks that way." Whitey nodded, pointing down at the next series of flags. "If you continue down the hill, you can see that it is a controlled spin." His voice had taken on the nasal quality that he used when lecturing to his students.

Taggert trailed him, knowing better than to interrupt.

They finally reached the main scene, and Whitey hadn't even paused for a breath. "Impact was here." He pointed to a large pine tree. "She had a great deal of speed when she hit, my rough estimate is over 50 m.p.h."

Whitey moved over and touched a large bruise on the base of the trunk, Taggert could see the flakes of a deep red paint on the tree. "According to a diver that we got to the car, the dent is on the passenger side, right by the front wheel base." He looked up at Taggert. "I'm guessing at over 50 because we can see that the car ricocheted from the tree after impact, coming to rest about here."

"When will you know for sure?" Taggert asked.

"Now LT that all depends. We do have other cases you know, and this will take a lot of field tests, and computer simulations, before I can state my findings 100%." Whitey told him with a grin.

With the sunlight reflecting off his pale baldhead, and also glinting off his coke bottle glasses, his wide grin, with a mouthful of braces, he reminded Taggert of a life size fly. "You know it's a priority Whitey."

Whitey ignored him, pointing to the ground. "We can tell from the indentations left by her tires that her front wheels were on the ground originally, while the rear wheels, were always over the edge." He pointed to a particularly deep rut. "She spent a little time hanging here, until well…" He paused to grin at Taggert. "Gravity works."

Taggert moved towards the edge careful to walk around the flags set in the ground to preserve the scene. He could see the path the car had followed by the flattened bushes, and compressed grass.

"We found a rock about 200 ft down, with blood on it. The officer on scene said she had a head wound, and that was roughly the area where the paramedics found her. I have some guys doing some tests, to see what else was there. We know the car made several intermediate stops on it's way down, before slipping over that mini ledge about 250 ft down, and freefalling into the water below. It's a good thing she bailed when she did, another few feet, and we'd be fishing her out of the drink." Whitey pulled off his glasses, rubbing at them with his tie.

"How long will it be before we get the car?"

"Oh I'm betting at least three months."

"What?" Taggert turned on him.

"Look LT." Whitey pointed down to the water below. "How are we supposed to get it out?"

Taggert looked over the edge cautiously, moving closer, to study the terrain. He hated heights. He could feel himself starting to sweat even though the April wind was brisk today. He forced the uneasiness away and focused on doing his job. He spotted what Whitey was talking about right away.

The drop after about 250 ft was a sheer drop. The terrain on either side was wild and overgrown, with jagged rocks. There was no way to get a vehicle down the side, the drop was also too big, to try to pull the car up the side of the cliff. He edged closer, to look at the bed of the lake. It was impassible there was no way a vehicle, could get close to where the car was submerged. "Damn'it."

"Yes. Maybe in a few months the water will be deep enough that the current will move the car. A quarter mile farther, there is an opening where we can get a vehicle through. But for now the car is Lake Art." Whitey finished with a grin.

"I need to know what happened here, with that car now, not three months from now." Taggert snapped.

"Well you better check with the victim then, because other than a cursory check, we can't check the engine or brakes, to find out if the car failed, due to mechanical problems, or mischief most foul." He began to whistle tunelessly. "Nope this crime scene will be without the car."

Taggert rubbed his forehead in disgust. If Rory Nichols didn't make it, he would be S.O.L. and Morgan and Corinthos would walk again. He gradually became aware of Whitey's whistling, and thought back to what he had just said, crime scene. "What aren't you telling me then Whitey? Why are you calling this a crime scene, instead of an accident site?" He demanded, turning to the small man, who was rocking back and forth on his heels, like a demented munchkin.

Whitey beamed. "I told you we had a few surprises." He pointed to a series of flags at the edge of the cliff. "Especially here."

Taggert moved over to check out a series of footprints. He had to study it, because Whitey would never say anything, until he made a guess and showed his ignorance. "Footprints?"

"How many do you see?"

"A lot." Taggert shrugged. "Come on Whitey, I don't have time for this."

"No time to learn? LT I'm disappointed in you." Whitey sighed, "We have prints from the paramedics, here and here." He pointed along the fringe. "We took a shot of their shoes, for comparison later on, if necessary I'll make a cast of their prints too. So that way we can fully isolate their prints from the others."

"So who are these then?" Taggert asked pointing to a set of prints that had a weird design on the sole. They were pointed in the fashion of dress shoes. "They look like fancy ones."

"Very good, you can learn something." Whitey said slapping him on the shoulder, but because of the height difference, he hit Taggert's back instead. "They're not the paramedics, nor your officer. The girl was on a stretcher, besides, these are a size 10 man's shoes. Yet they are very fresh, and as you pointed out, they are dress shoes, so why would they be on a muddy cliffside?"

Taggert kept quiet, knowing Whitey would go on, even if he did try to speak.

"They came out of the brush over there, moved to the impact site, then followed the car to the edge. He left us a real good print over there, when he stepped in a mud puddle. But he was definitely here, after the car hit, because you can see when he walked away, he stepped in the groove her tire made on the mud." Whitey pointed at the mark.

"So who do they belong too?"

"That's your job LT, I'm just here to tell you what to look for. But he definitely helped the car over the edge."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Whitey snapped. "The indentation test will bear me out. But you can tell from the prints, that he was pushing the car, at these points. I know he was, and I haven't been wrong in 22 years. That car was definitely helped over the edge, and that makes it attempted murder, therefore a crime scene."

A slow smile crossed Taggert's face. "So when can I get the info on those shoes, and your estimate of a height and weight factor on our mysterious little helper?"

"Now that all depends." Whitey rubbed his hands together in anticipation, this was his favorite part, negotiating.

"You do know this is about Morgan and Corinthos." Taggert said trying to cut him off.

"They'll still be here in a few days." Whitey wasn't having any of it.

"I have a bottle of unblended scotch." Taggert offered.

"Nope, quit drinking, M.I.L. don't you know." Whitey grumbled.

"M.I.L.?" Taggert asked absently.

"Mother-in-law, moved in with us. If I drink with her there, I will have a crime scene in my own home." Whitey explained.

He didn't know what surprised him more, the fact that Whitey was married, or the fact, he knew Whitey was serious about harming his mother in law. He pulled his thoughts away from that track, concentrating instead on getting what he needed, as soon as possible. "How about two tickets to this years Nurses Ball?"

"No, you seen one strip show, you've seen them all." Whitey began to polish his glasses again. "I'm thinking outdoors, noisy, the ballpark, a little bird told me you know all about that."

Taggert groaned. "Whitey, you can't be serious."

"Don't worry you'll get that report as soon as I can get to it, probably late next week with the preliminary." Whitey said stepping away.

"Wait." Taggert rubbed his head, his mother was going to kill him, he had waited weeks to get those tickets. "Two tickets to the subway series in June, third base side."

"Now you're talking." Whitey all but cackled in glee. "You'll have the preliminary report by the end of the day, the final report by the end of the week. I'll rush the information giving you height and weight estimates on the man who made the prints, as well as what brand of shoe." He started whistling again, turning away to hurry up his techs.

Taggert smiled grimly, losing the Mets/Yankees would be worth it, if he got something on Morgan, but he was going to make sure Whitey earned those tickets. "I want everything out of the car, every scrap of paper, every piece of lint, also photos, and anything else you can think of." He ordered heading for his car. It was time to pay a visit to the hospital.

The tech that had followed them along their journey of the accident site, headed back towards the equipment van. He glanced at his watch, he needed to make a call, he had a feeling Benny would be very interested in Whitey's report.

****

~GH 4th Floor~

Jason grinned at her words, bringing her hand to his lips. "I guess I forgot for a minute."

Rory closed her eyes shifting slightly, only to stop in surprise as pain shot through her body. She opened her eyes, belatedly focusing on the room, and not recognizing it. "What?"

"It's okay Rory." Jason said immediately. He glanced over at Bobbie who nodded at him. "You were in an accident, you're at General Hospital."

"I was?" She murmured turning her head carefully, her shoulder was a dull ache, she glanced down seeing that her left arm was in a sling. If her shoulder ached, her head throbbed.

"Rory, I'm Dr. Jones." Tony said leaning over her on her left side, catching her attention. "I'm going to examine you now okay?"

Rory turned back to look at Jason. The room seemed to go from light, to dark, to light again. She blinked to bring him into focus. "What kind of accident?"

"You can discuss that in a few minutes, right now I need to get a look at your head." Tony spoke again. "Jason you need to leave now." 

Jason looked up at him, but made no effort to move.

"I see your hearing hasn't improved Jason." Tony sniped. "Get out now, I need to examine my patient."

"Jason." Rory tugged on his hand, drawing his attention away from Dr. Jones. "Let him do his job, then he'll leave."

Jason sighed, moving closer to her head, to kiss her uninjured cheek. "I'll be right outside." The words were meant to comfort her, and also to warn Dr. Jones.

"I'll be here." She said weakly.

Jason stood up, shooting another warning look at Tony, before looking at Bobbie in question.

"I'll be right here with her Jason." Bobbie said quickly.

Jason nodded, and reluctantly let go of her hand, heading for the door.

"The nerve of that guy." Tony muttered, his anger extreme enough, that he forgot Rory's presence, speaking his thoughts out loud. "Does he think I'll hurt my own patient? If I didn't know better, I would say his brain damage is growing."

"Tony." Bobbie said in warning. "You can't blame him, and now is not the time to be talking like this." She moved up beside the bed. "This won't take long Rory."

Tony glanced down at his patient, belatedly remembering her tie to Jason, bracing himself for the resemblance to Elizabeth. The only difference he could see was her eyes, which were now full of anger, directed at him, he had no doubt. He berated himself, he shouldn't have spoken like that with her in the room, only the sight of Jason, always seemed to make him do things he normally wouldn't do. "Alright." He said with a smile. "I don't want you to worry, I've never had any complaints." He paused before finishing his joke. "Of course that's because most of my patients are unconscious, I'm a surgeon."

Rory's arm felt like it had been ripped off, her head was pounding so hard, that she would pay for it to be ripped off, bruises were making themselves known all over her body, and it seemed she had an asshole for a doctor. She sighed heavily. "With your bedside manner, I'd prefer to be unconscious too."

Bobbie swallowed a laugh, while Tony's face turned red.

****

~5th Floor~

"Emily are you okay?" Lucky asked in concern, when he saw how pale she was. "Did something happen to your Grandmother?"

"No." She glanced at Nikolas who shrugged. "A friend was in a car accident, I'm worried about her."

Lucky gave her a quick hug. "I'm sorry is it serious?"

"We don't know yet." She mumbled. If she told him, Lucky would probably charge up to ICU and make a scene. The last thing Jason needed was Lucky in his face. But if she didn't tell him, and he found out anyway, it could be worse. At least her and Nikolas were here to keep him calm, if they had too.

"Do I know her?" Lucky asked stepping back.

"Actually you do know her." Emily admitted.

Nikolas moved so he was standing by Emily facing Lucky. "It's Rory."

"What?" Lucky's eyes flicked from Emily's to Nikolas's in disbelief. "Elizabeth was in an accident?"

"No Rory was." Emily corrected him immediately.

"You said you thought she might die." Lucky whispered. Fear and dread were coursing through him, he couldn't lose her, not now. Not when he just found her again. "Where is she? I have to go see her."

"Lucky stop." Nikolas grabbed his arm when Lucky tried to go past him. "It's not Elizabeth, remember. Jason is with her, you need to stay here."

"I don't care about Jason." Lucky snapped pulling his arm free. "All I care is that she is hurt, she's hurt and I'm not with her. I need to see her." With that he took off down the hall, heading for the elevators.

"Nikolas we have to stop him." Emily cried taking off after him. "Jason's there and he's not in any shape to deal with Lucky."

"He'll probably go to E.R. first, let's head him off." Nikolas said taking her hand, and opening the door to the stairs.

****

~4th Floor~

"Well?" Carly pounced as soon as Jason stepped out the door.

"She seems fine, I asked her if she was done sleeping." Jason said quietly.

"Sleeping?" Sonny asked.

"She looked at me and asked me if I had hit my head, because she doesn't sleep without me." He said with a shake of his head, not really feeling much just yet. Ever since he had heard she was missing, he had been on overload, and now that it looked like she would be okay, he was numb.

"You two are weird." Carly said hugging him in relief.

"Tony's examining her now." Jason told them, when she stepped back.

"Him? You shouldn't let him anywhere near her." Carly snapped. She shrugged off Sonny's hand, when he touched her arm in warning. "There's no telling what he might do."

"Carly." Sonny said softly.

"What Sonny?" Carly turned to look at him. "You weren't in town during Tony's rampages, you don't know what he is capable of."

"Bobbie's with him." Jason explained, trying to head off her rant.

"Jason?" Dr. Monica Quartermaine moved up beside him. "I got called away, is there any change?"

Jason looked at her and smiled. "She woke up."

"Thank God." Monica sighed she could see the relief in her son's normally closed face. "So everything is okay then?"

"Tony is checking her now."

Monica nodded, meeting his eyes, she saw the unspoken request in them. "I think I'll just go inside myself."

"Thanks." Jason said squeezing her hand lightly.

"Damn." Carly muttered when her bag began to ring. "I ran out of Deception in such a rush I'm amazed Elton didn't call before now." She dug in her bag for her phone. "I'm going to handle this and I'll be right back." She gave Jason another quick hug. "She's going to be fine." She turned to Sonny, kissing him lightly. "Take care of them." She whispered before heading for the elevators.

Sonny looked after her a smile on his face, when she cared she held nothing back.

Carly paused by the elevators, the phone had rung over twenty-five times, and she let it ring a few more, before she answered it. "What is it Elton?" The elevator doors opened, and she was almost bowled over when someone ran out of them. "Watch it Lucky." She warned him, getting on the elevator.

Lucky ignored her, racing over towards Jason. "Where the hell is she?"

Carly's eyes widened in surprise, but before she could hear anymore the doors closed.

Jason turned around from the doors to face him. "Lucky this doesn't concern you."

"She's in a hospital, of course it concerns me." Lucky snapped. "Where is she? How bad is she hurt?"

Jason didn't answer, he didn't feel as in control as he normally did. All the worry and concern he had been feeling could easily be turned into anger. He didn't want that, he didn't want to unload on Lucky just because he needed a release. He looked at Sonny, and must have conveyed what he was feeling because Sonny moved to head Lucky off.

"Lucky she's going to be fine, so there's no reason for you to be here." Sonny told him, inserting himself between him and Jason.

"I'm not leaving until I see her. You can't make me." 

"Look Lucky, I heard you had a bad morning, so I know you probably don't realize what you are saying, but you really need to leave now." Sonny ordered.

Jason stood behind Sonny staring impassively at Lucky, he had no idea what Sonny was talking about, but if it got rid of Lucky, before he was forced too, it would be good.

"I'm fine and I'm not leaving. I just need to know how Elizabeth is. Emily said she was in a car accident?" He stopped when an idea pushed past the fear he was feeling for Elizabeth. "Or was in an accident Jason? Did this have something to do with you?"

Jason ignored him, it was getting harder, and harder for him to see the boy he used to know in Lucky.

"I see you didn't get hurt, is this more of your arrogance that she has to pay the price for?" Lucky demanded his temper making him say things he shouldn't. "You live with her over a bar, you don't even have a decent lock on your door, she is alone a lot, and you wonder why she gets hurt. It's your damn fault Jason."

"Lucky after the head trip you pulled on Rory yesterday, the last thing you want to do is get in my face today." Jason warned him.

"Elizabeth! Her name is Elizabeth." Lucky yelled. "And if she is in this hospital because of you, I swear to God I will kill you." He finished moving closer to Jason.

"I'm not going to tell you again Lucky. Leave." Sonny snapped, putting his hands on Lucky's chest to stop his approach. He could hear the anger in Jason's voice, and there were to many witnesses around for him to lose it here.

"No." Lucky told him. "Elizabeth." He yelled trying to get around Sonny.

Jason moved closer to intercept him, when Johnny stepped in front of him to block him. "Think about Rory, you getting arrested isn't going to make her feel any better."

Jason glared at Johnny for a long minute before nodding. "Get him the hell away from me."

Sonny stayed in front of Lucky, shoving him back a step, when he made another charge towards the exam room, or Jason, he didn't know which. Nikolas and Emily burst from the stairwell, and Nikolas caught Lucky from behind stopping his charge in his tracks.

"Lucky stop it." Nikolas ordered dragging him towards the elevators.

"You don't understand Elizabeth…"

"Is dead." Nikolas yelled. "She is dead Lucky and no amount of wishing is going to turn Rory into her."

Lucky stared at his brother in shock. "But…"

"But nothing Lucky, you have to stop this right now. It's not doing you or her any good." Nikolas punched the elevator call button. "We're going to leave now. Jason is here for Rory. Do you hear me? Rory."

Lucky shoved his hands in his pockets staring past Nikolas to Jason who had moved to talk to Dr. Jones and Dr. Quartermaine, when they walked out of a treatment room. "I just need to know she's okay."

"Emily will tell us later." Nikolas told him, gesturing to the elevator, when the door opened. "Right now we need to go. It's not good for you to be here."

Lucky moved into the elevator, Sonny had said she was going to be fine. He tuned Nikolas out, his mind already formulating a plan, on how he could use this situation to bring Elizabeth back.

"What was all the yelling about?" An ashen-faced Monica asked, she hadn't been prepared to see a ghost.

"Lucky Spencer was here." Jason explained wearily. "How is Rory?" He asked, glancing at Emily when she took his hand.

Sonny and Alexis moved over to hear the report as well. Sonny for support, Alexis to make sure Tony talked. 

"She looks good, she has a pretty serious concussion, and as a result some short term memory loss." Tony started, focusing on Emily, it seemed safer. "The last thing she does remember, before waking up here, is a lamp breaking?" He glanced at Jason in question, but he didn't say anything. "She didn't go into any detail about it."

"That happened last night." Jason said shortly. He knew why she wouldn't go into detail, neither would he.

"We're still waiting on the results of the MRI but I think that is just routine. The concussion, the dislocated shoulder, and numerous bruises, seem to be the extent of her injuries." Tony finished on a sigh. "For someone who went over a cliff she's lucky, at least for now." He focused on Jason again. "Although how long her luck will hold is anyone's guess."

"Thank you Tony." Alexis interrupted. "The medical report is all you need to concern yourself with though."

"What about her memory?" Sonny asked.

"It could come back, then again she might not ever remember this morning. The mind has a habit of protecting itself from remembering pain. Even if she doesn't remember, it is only a few hours of her life." He looked at Jason. "It's not like it's the first 21 years of someone's life, or a personality changing event, which is a pity, she needs a wake-up call as to who she let's in her life."

"Enough Tony." Monica snapped.

"Can I see her?" Jason addressed Monica. He was not going to let Dr. Jones goad him into starting something here. He knew that Tony was just looking for an excuse to have him arrested, and Taggert would be only too willing to oblige him.

"We're going to move her to a private room. She's going to be here overnight at the very least. Depending on how she handles her head injury, will tell if it will be longer or not." Monica explained. "You can see her, once she is settled in her room."

"Thanks."

Tony frowned in disgust, before moving away without a word. He saw his secretary by the nurse's station and handed her Rory's file. "Type up my notes, she's being admitted."

__

"Dr. Quartermaine to X-ray.. Dr. Monica Quartermaine to X-ray."

"I have to go now Jason, I'll check in on her later." She gave into temptation and hugged him, smiling when he hugged her back. "In spite of the circumstances it is good to see you."

"You too Monica." Jason said watching her walk away.

"Jason I'm sorry about Lucky. I thought Nikolas and I could control him, when he found out." Emily said softly.

"It's not your fault, he would have reacted like that, whenever he found out." Jason told her.

"Why did Lucky react like that?" Alexis asked.

"Rory looks like Elizabeth Webber, so he thinks she is Elizabeth." Sonny explained quietly. Something about what Lucky had said, bothered him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Elizabeth?" Alexis repeated, trying to put a face to the name. "The girl who used to waitress at Kelly's?"

"Yeah." Emily nodded. "It's spooky how much they look alike."

Sonny moved over to stand by Jason. "Carly said Rory freaked when she woke up. Does she share your dislike of hospitals?"

"No. That's why it was weird. A friend of hers was in the hospital for several weeks, and Rory used to visit her a lot, it never even bothered her."

"Maybe it bothered her this time, because she was the patient, not a visitor." Sonny offered.

"No." Again Jason shook his head. "Last summer, she had to have her tonsils out. She had no problems at all. I don't know why she reacted like that." He looked at Sonny. "She kept going on about shots."

****

~Inside~

"Is he always like that?" Rory asked the nurse.

"Who? Like what?" Bobbie asked hanging up the phone after talking to admitting.

"Is Dr. Jones always an ass?"

Bobbie couldn't help the small laugh that escaped. "I think you caught him off guard. First there was your resemblance to Elizabeth, and then when you tried to bite him, he didn't know how to take you."

"I tried to bite him?" She turned her head quickly in surprise, only to groan at the pain the unexpected movement caused.

"Still hurt?" Bobbie asked moving to the bed. "I'll see about giving you some more pain medicine. We were keeping your doses light, while you were unconscious, but now we can increase it."

"Good, just don't tell Jason. I don't want him to worry." Rory said.

"Honey, he's going to worry no matter what." Bobbies told her.

"I know." Rory sighed. "Did you say I tried to bite the Doctor?"

"Yes. When you came too, you were quite agitated. Jason had to calm you down, before he could, you went after Tony."

"Weird." Rory focused on the redhead again. "Wait weren't you the waitress yesterday?"

"I'm also a nurse." Bobbie explained, raising the guardrails on the bed. "You ready to go to your room?"

"I guess as long as you keep your jobs straight and don't bring me to the kitchen, I'm a lousy cook."

Bobbie laughed. "I'll remember that."

"Hey." Rory said softly, when the gurney was pushed through the doors, and Jason appeared at her side.

"Hey yourself." Jason said moving with the gurney towards the elevators, picking up her hand.

"You come here often?" She offered a slight smile.

Jason frowned down at her, and got on the elevator beside her.

Sonny couldn't help the grin that spread across his face, that girl was definitely what Jason needed in his life.

"I think so too." Emily said from beside him, reading his mind.

****

~Elevator~

"Jason you're hurt." Rory said suddenly, trying to sit up on the gurney, ignoring the pain, so she could touch his face.

He caught her hand and eased her back down gently. "I'm fine, I have a hard head remember?"

She closed her eyes trying to make herself remember. "Were you with me?"

"No you were alone." Jason told her he could see the pain in her eyes. "Don't push it, just rest."

The elevator came to a stop on 6 and Bobbie pushed the gurney out of it and down the hall, towards another nurse who was waiting outside of room 617. "Jason I need you to wait out here, while I get her settled." Bobbie told him pushing Rory inside the room.

Jason leaned against the doorjamb, closing his eyes for a second while he waited.

"Morgan, just the person I've been looking for."

****

~4th Floor~

"Sonny will you tell Jason I'll be back in a little while? I'm going to tell Lucky that's she's fine, hopefully that will keep him away." Emily spoke up heading for the elevator.

"Sure." Sonny said with a smile. It had been a long day and it wasn't even 2:00 yet. "Well so far so good." He said turning to Alexis.

"Any day without Taggert is a good day." She agreed.

He looked up when the elevator doors opened again and Francis stepped off of them. "Excuse me a minute."

"We got a problem." Francis said quietly. "I just heard from Benny, the team found 2 bugs at Jake's one in the phone, the other by the bed."

"Damn." Sonny pinched his nose. "Have them sweep the penthouse and the warehouse too."

Francis nodded. "There's more. Benny got a call from one of our guys at the P.C.P.D. apparently Rory's car accident wasn't an accident."

Sonny eyes locked on Francis. "Explain."

"The report isn't in yet, but it's for sure. Someone pushed her car over the cliff."

"Jesus." Sonny snapped pacing a few steps away taking a deep breath, before moving back to Francis. "Okay I want everything on the bugs, the accident, everything, and I want it now. You report to me only."

"Yes sir."

"Remember, you're on Rory now, nothing." He paused to make sure he had Francis's undivided attention. "Nothing else happens to her."

****

~Lobby~

"Nikolas why are you still here?" Emily asked in surprise when the elevator doors opened to reveal him.

"I lost Lucky." He admitted sheepishly.

"Oh God." Emily groaned. "Jason won't hold back this time, if Lucky shows up again."

"I know, we have to find him Em." Nikolas said moving into the elevator.

Emily took an unconscious step back in response to his proximity. She couldn't help the reactions he seemed to cause in her, without even trying too. She edged farther back, so she was leaning against the railing.

Nikolas saw her reaction, cursed under his breath, and reached out hitting the emergency stop button on the elevator.

She grabbed the rail to steady herself when the elevator lurched to a stop. "Why did you do that?"

"Because we need to talk, without you running away." Nikolas told her, over the noise of the alarm.

****

~Records~

"Here's the latest batch of admissions, Marian." A perky nurse called to a woman who was just closing her office.

Marian sighed and took the files from her. "They'll just have to wait, I have a lunch date that I am not going to miss." She said setting the files on her desk, and moving back into the hall, and locking the door.

Lucky waited until she disappeared around the corner before stepping out of the storage closet. He crossed to the office, checking the hall again, before crouching down to pop the lock with his make shift lock picks of a few scalpels. The lock gave after a minute and he slipped inside, locking the door after him. He headed for the desk, flipping the desk light on, he found the file he wanted second from the top.

"It's tome to get to know the Rory Nichols version of Elizabeth." Lucky muttered moving around to sit in the chair and opening the file.

****

~4th Floor~

"Where is he?" Carly demanded when she came flying out of the elevator, her eyes searching the room frantically.

"Calm down Carly, Jason went with Rory." Sonny said taking her hand. "He's fine, she's fine, so calm down."

"Not Jason, Taggert. I saw him coming inside when I was talking to Elton. If he's here, it's to talk to Jason." Carly snapped, she looked at Alexis. "Isn't that why you're here?"

Sonny looked at Alexis as well, she was already picking up her briefcase. "We need to find out where they took Rory."

****

~6th Floor~

Jason opened his eyes to face a smug looking Taggert.

"I knew we'd be seeing each other soon Morgan." He pointed to the room. "It's a good thing for her that it's not over her body bag." He studied the bandage on Jason's forehead. "Although you may be disappointed that we're not meeting there."


	25. Why did he keep staring at my shoes?

****

What If…

Chapter 24

****

~Jake's~

Marin let himself in Rory's room and immediately realized he wasn't alone. Years of training kicked in and he reacted immediately, shoving hard at the door and driving it into the person hidden behind the door.

Cal let out an oof when the door handle connected with his gut causing him to bend over in pain. Marin was a blur in motion, pulling Cal from behind the door and throwing him across the room.

The loud music coming through the floor masked the noise Cal made when he fell heavily into the bedside table, and breaking it before collapsing on the floor.

Marin was on him immediately, he delivered a blow to the temple knocking him unconscious. He backed off and glanced around the room, it was empty of all their belongings. He stood and moved to the headboard, feeling around for the bug he had planted there, it was gone. He moved to the phone, quickly unscrewing it, the bug was gone.

He frowned and glanced at the unconscious man on the floor. He recognized him as the man who had been with Francis. It was a pity it wasn't Francis he could have tied up that loose end right now. He crossed to the man and pulled out his wallet, "Well Mr. Calvert Rogers, if I ever need to find you again I know where to look." He studied the driver's license photo again, "it really doesn't do you justice." He shoved the wallet back where he found it and left.

He waited until he was a few miles from Jake's before he made the call. "It's Marin, we might have a problem."

__

"Another problem already Mr. Marin?"

The voice held a hint of amusement, but Marin knew better than to think the client was pleased. "Morgan had their stuff moved from Jake's. The bugs are gone as well."

__

"Disappointing but not unexpected. I do believe we need to slow him down a bit though. Perhaps a red herring would be appropriate."

"What would you like me to do?" Marin asked after a long pause.

__

"Mr. Morgan works with Mr. Corinthos, and they are both criminals. It shouldn't be that hard to plant a trail, bringing the accidents and bugs back to their line of work. It doesn't have to last for long, but just keep them looking in the wrong direction for a while." Pause, "Do you think you can handle that?"

"Yes." Marin was insulted by the mocking question. He wasn't used to anyone questioning his ability.

__

"I certainly hope so Mr. Marin, for your sake."

Marin frowned and ended the call. If a mob war was what the client wanted then that's what would happen. He smirked, in fact, it might be fun. He hadn't started a street war since that time in Israel a few years ago, he grinned remembering how well that had turned out. It wouldn't be that hard to fool Morgan, after all he was only a thug, and a brain damaged one at that. How hard could it be?

****

~GH 6th Floor~

Don't give him the chance to arrest you, he only wants you to react, don't do it. The words were in Jason's mind, even while the temper worked it's way through his body. He kept his face impassive and stared at Taggert.

"Since you supposedly don't lie, and you're quiet, that must mean I'm right." Taggert inched closer, "that's an interesting bandage on your forehead. Did you have an accident?"

Jason ignore him, he could hear the muted sounds of Bobbie speaking to Rory inside the room. The thought of her lying in the bed, waiting for him, kept him calm. He tilted his head as if confused as to what Taggert was saying and waited for him to go on.

"It seems I caught you on one of those days again." Taggert smirked, "you know one of those days that you can't seem to understand things? Then again maybe those are the only kind of days you have."

"Do you have a point Taggert?" Jason moved to let a nurse walk out of Rory's room.

Taggert glanced through the little window in the door to look at Rory. "She had a rough morning, it seems she had an accident too," he turned back to Jason. "Hers involved a cliff. Did yours?"

Jason just headed for the door, he wasn't in the mood for Taggert's crap today.

Taggert put his hand on Jason's chest and shoved him back a step. "I asked you a question Morgan. You can either answer it here, or at the station."

Jason looked down at Taggert's hand on his chest and then back up at him. Normally what Taggert said amused him, occasionally it frustrated him, but today it was making him angry. "What do you want Taggert?"

Taggert hid a smirk, pleased that he had finally got a reaction from Morgan. "Did you get your injury at the same place Rory got hers?"

Jason just looked at him, knowing better than to speak at the moment.

Taggert knew that Morgan hadn't been anywhere near the cliff. He knew everything about the man he was speaking too, including his shoe size, which wasn't a size 10. But he did see an edge in Morgan that he hadn't seen in years. It seemed that his hunch of yesterday was correct, Rory was his Achilles. If he played it right maybe he could use that to get Morgan. "Still not talking? Okay let's try a simpler question then. Where were you this morning between the hours of 10:00 and 12:30?"

"I was at work Taggert." Jason said shortly.

Taggert inched closer deciding to push him a little bit. "Too bad you weren't with your girlfriend. She could have used someone when she was hanging on the side of a cliff, wondering if she would get out of the car, before it dropped 300 feet into the water below." He paused for effect, "but it seems you're never around when your girlfriends have problems with their cars. First there was that nasty little bomb in Robin Scorpio's and now we have a cliff problem with Rory…"

Jason was reaching for him when Bobbie opened the door and stepped between them. "Jason I need you inside now."

Jason immediately focused on her, "Is something wrong?"

"It's Rory she's becoming agitated again."

Taggert forgotten Jason moved for the door only to stop when Taggert stepped in front of him.

"We're not finished here Morgan."

Jason simply shoved Taggert out of the way and moved inside the room, he could see Rory moving wildly on the bed.

"Morgan that's called assault and that means your ass is mine." Taggert entered the room behind him heading for the bed.

"No more please stop," Rory moaned on the bed.

"You need to leave Taggert." Bobbie stopped his forward progress. "I need Jason to calm her down, and my needs come before yours."

"Rory it's okay," Jason ignored the conversation behind him, took her hand, and crouched by the bed. "You're okay, I'm here with you, you're in a hospital.

"No more," Rory moved trying to pull her hand away.

"Bobbie you saw him shove me, so I'll need to get a statement from you as well." Taggert said, "come on Morgan."

Bobbie glanced towards the bed and saw Jason whispering to Rory, trying to calm her down, she hesitated for a second then turned back to Taggert. "The only thing I saw was Jason coming in to help my patient, after I asked him too."

Taggert was stunned, he frowned at her for a minute before trying again, "Bobbie…"

"Enough Taggert, you need to leave, now." Bobbie snapped when she heard Rory cry out again.

"Not without Morgan."

"Is this man bothering you?" An out of breath Alexis Davis asked from the doorway.

Taggert managed to hide the winch when he heard her voice, but couldn't stop the frown on his face, when he turned to face her.

Alexis entered the room, followed by Sonny and an equally out of breath Carly. "Taggert you heard her, you need to leave."

"Fine but Morgan goes with me."

"No." Rory cried from the bed, getting the attention of everybody in the room, "no more, please stop."

"That's it everybody but Jason out of the room now." Bobbie ordered, grabbing Taggert by the arm and dragging him to the door.

"We'll be outside Jase," Carly called before heading out after Taggert and Sonny.

Alexis moved towards the bed, she glanced at the door to make sure Taggert was out of it before speaking. "Jason I know this is bad timing, but I need to know if the car is registered in your name or in Rory's.

Jason didn't even look at her, "It's Rory's car, her name is on the title." His eyes searched Rory's but he could see no recognition in them.

"Okay." Alexis moved closer to the bed, "Does she have an attorney? Or do you have her durable power of attorney as well? It would help me get rid of Taggert quicker, if I could represent her."

"No only her medical power of attorney."

Rory turned her head towards Alexis, she looked past her, then back at Alexis. "You're hired," she said with a wink before turning back to Jason.

Alexis couldn't help but smile at Jason's stunned expression. "I'll just go deal with Taggert." She schooled her features into a frown before heading out of the room.

"Is he gone?" She whispered after a while. She kept her eyes closed but even through the pain and the drugs, she could feel the weight of Jason's frown.

"Yes," he tiredly pinched his nose. "Don't do that to me."

She could hear the weariness in his voice and opened her eyes, "Jason I heard him talking to you. I know you, you were about to lose it, I didn't want you to get into trouble because of me."

He carefully brushed some hair out of her face, he could see the pain in her eyes, and she fought through it because she was worried about him. "You scared me today, I'm not used to that."

She reached up with her right hand and touched his face, "I'm okay."

His hand covered hers on his face and he moved it to his mouth to drop a kiss in her palm before moving it back to the bed. "You will be," he vowed.

****

~Elevator~

"Nikolas this really isn't a good time to do this. Besides there's nothing to talk about." Emily went on nervously after his silent look.

"If there was nothing to talk about, then you wouldn't be so nervous around me." Nikolas countered speaking loudly to be heard over the alarm.

"I'm not nervous, I'm worried about Rory, Jason, and Lucky." She stepped towards the control panel only to jerk to a halt when he moved in front of her.

"You're upset about what happened last night, what happened between us."

"What happened?" She leaned back against the railing and tried to look unconcerned.

"We kissed Emily." He snapped.

She crossed her arms over her chest, "Oh that. I forgot all about it." She replied nonchalantly.

Nikolas glared at her, "Then why did you run away from me this morning?"

"I had to get to school," she pitched her voice to be heard over the alarm.

"Then why aren't you there now?"

"Because I needed to talk to Rory about…" she trailed off. "It's none of your business Nikolas, I don't have to explain my actions to you, you're not my family or my boyfriend."

"I'm your friend Emily." Nikolas argued moving closer to her.

Friend. That was the problem she wanted more than that from him and he didn't want it from her. She felt dizzy for a second and one of the reasons why she needed to stay away from him hit her. He knew her so well, that she had to stay away to protect her secret from him. "Maybe we shouldn't be friends." She yelled at the same time the alarm cut off. Her words seemed to echo in the elevator, causing Nikolas to pale.

"What?" He whispered, before clearing his throat and going on in his normal tone of voice. "We settled this last night we will always be friends."

"You know there are a lot of things about last night, that I don't want to remember. Most of them involve you." Emily lashed out stunning Nikolas again. She moved past him and hit a button on the elevator control pad and sent the car moving again.

"Emily what is going on with you? Why are you pushing me away?"

Emily kept her back to him and hardened her heart to the plea she heard in his voice. "I'm not hiding anything Nikolas. And as for pushing you away, it's just people change, and sometimes you grow apart from them." She blinked hard forcing the tears away before looking back at him. "We really need to concentrate on finding Lucky right now."

The doors opened on the fourth floor and Emily hurriedly got off the elevator and away from him. She had to leave before she gave into temptation and either burst into tears, or throw herself in his arms. She didn't know what she wanted to do most, she only knew that she couldn't do either one.

****

~6th Floor~

"You want to tell me what you were trying to do in there Taggert?" Alexis closed the door behind her.

"I was in the process of arresting Jason Morgan for assault." Taggert shot back.

"And who did he allegedly assault?" Alexis demanded putting on her glasses, and reaching in her briefcase for a pen.

"Me."

Carly snorted, "If he assaulted you Taggert you wouldn't be upright."

"Carly." Sonny tried to sound stern, but it was hard when he agreed with her.

"Bobbie was a witness," Taggert shot a warning look at Carly before focusing on Bobbie. "Weren't you?"

"I told you the only thing I saw was Jason trying to help my patient like I asked him too," Bobbie snapped, before turning away. "Speaking of which I need to get her some medication," she stopped a few steps away and faced Taggert again. "You are not allowed in that room Taggert, she is not to be upset."

"He won't get near her." Alexis told her before facing Taggert again.

"You don't tell me how to conduct an investigation, I will speak with Morgan and Rory when I choose to." Taggert went on cockily, "You have no control over me."

"Taggert how many times do I have to correct you?" Alexis shook her head briefly. "Number one you do not have the authority to question Rory, because you do not have the medical clearance to do so. Secondly Rory Nichols is my client, therefore you cannot question her without me being there." She glanced at her watch, "and since I am due in Court in half an hour, you will have to wait." She allowed herself a small smile, "Now why do you want to question my other client Jason Morgan?"

Sonny smirked Alexis was on a roll.

"Because I want to find out his role in what happened to Rory." Taggert came out swinging.

"His role? What makes you think he has a role? Are you suggesting that Ms. Nichols' accident wasn't an accident? That Mr. Morgan was somehow involved in foul play regarding her vehicle?" She paused for a response and received none. "I'm glad that you aren't that stupid. Now was the car registered in his name or in Rory Nichols' name?"

"Well…"

"That's right it was Ms. Nichols' car." Alexis took a breath. "Do you have any evidence to confirm that Mr. Morgan was in the car with Ms. Nichols at the time of her accident?"

Taggert opened his mouth, but Alexis steam-rolled right over him. "I doubt that you do since at the time of the accident my client was at his place of business with over 35 people who can verify his presence. So again I must ask you why do you want to speak with my client, when it is obvious he can give you no insight into the accident?"

Taggert looked past her to a grinning Sonny then down at Sonny's dress shoes.

"What you are on is what I would call a fishing expedition Taggert. A lot of police investigators use them, it's nothing new, however in your case, it's a problem. Given your predilection for harassing my clients, I don't believe it would be that hard to convince a judge that you are on another warrantless witch hunt."

Carly smirked openly at the disgust on Taggert's face. She may not like Alexis but she had to admit that she knew her law. For that alone she was willing to tolerate Alexis' continued presence in her life.

"I'm trying to do my job here." Taggert wasn't going to go quietly.

"And I will let you do your job as long as you don't walk all over my clients rights to do so." Alexis glanced at her watch again. "It's almost 3:00 now, I will call you later in the day, after I have spoken with her doctors and my client, and I will advise you when it will be convenient for you to speak with Ms. Nichols. We will of course provide you with all the assistance you need to conduct your investigation." She smiled at him, "as for Mr. Morgan. If you can gave me concrete factual evidence as to why you need to question him, I'm sure he will be happy to speak with you, at a time and place that is convenient to him." She paused for breath, "I think that cover's everything Taggert."

Taggert shot her a look but didn't move.

"If you would prefer I can contact your superiors and inform them of the situation here. Of course that will lead to me filing another complaint against you," Alexis pulled off her glasses. "How many more complaints can your jacket hold before further disciplinary action is taken against you?"

Taggert knew that he was beat and moved reluctantly towards the elevator, pausing briefly by Sonny. "We'll be speaking soon Counselor, with your clientele it's only a matter of time." He glanced down one more time then left.

Sonny frowned down at his black shoes. "Good work Alexis."

"What's wrong Sonny?" Carly touched his arm when he continued to examine his shoes.

"Why did he keep staring at my shoes?"

"Excuse me," Bobbie walked past them with a syringe in her hand.

"Bobbie when do you think Rory will be cleared to answer questions?" Alexis asked catching the nurse before she moved inside.

"The concussion was pretty severe, probably not until tomorrow morning at the earliest."

"I warned Taggert not to come back until she's cleared and I'm here." Alexis went on pulling out a business card. "Will you note my number on her chart, that way I can be notified if he shows up again?"

Bobbie took the card and disappeared inside the room.

"I really do need to get to Court, can you let Jason and Rory know what happened?" Alexis shoved her glasses up into her hair, and began the process of looking for her carkeys.

"Yes, and thanks again Alexis." Sonny said with a smile, gently elbowing Carly in the ribs, and jerking his head to Alexis.

Carly shot him a glare, "What? She just did her job."

Alexis ignored her, "Call me if something else happens," she moved past them without another word. Besting Taggert was always fun, not as fun as beating Dara, but it still was an entertaining way to spend a few minutes of the day.

Sonny shook his head, turning when he heard someone behind him. He saw Francis and Johnny heading towards them. He saw a confused look on Johnny's face. "What's wrong?"

"Taggert just asked us what size of shoes we wear?" Johnny explained, "I think he's finally lost it."

****

~Room 617~

"There." Bobbie pulled the syringe out of the IV bottle. "That should kick in right away. It should take the pain back almost immediately." She smiled down at Rory, "If you're still hurting in about 15 minutes press the call button and I'll see about giving you something stronger."

"Thanks Bobbie, but I'm sure this will be enough." Rory was lying through her teeth, but she was trying not to make Jason worry anymore than he already was.

"Yeah thanks Bobbie." He looked up at her to let her know that he meant what she had done for him with Taggert as well as what she was doing for Rory.

"You're family Jason, you know that, there's no reason to thank me." Bobbie headed for the door.

Jason shifted so he was sitting on the bed next to her right hip, he took her hand in his. "You don't need to pretend with me Rory, I know you're hurting I can see it in your eyes."

"Maybe," she squirmed when she met his eyes. "Alright so right now I would pay to have my head and arm removed, but other than that I'm just fine."

"I'm sorry you're hurting," he brushed her hair away from the bandage on her head, examining it.

"Why? It wasn't your fault. I may not know how I ended up here, but I know for sure that you had nothing to do with it." She felt his finger lightly trace the bruise on her cheek, "I'm sorry you're hurting."

He frowned down at her, "I'm not."

"Your head must be." She felt the pain in her shoulder begin to lessen, and realized the drugs were finally kicking in. Thank god for medicine. "How did you hurt your head anyway?"

"Accident at work."

"That seems to be going around," she started to yawn and quickly smothered it.

"You can let yourself sleep Rory, I'll be here when you wake up."

"No I don't want to sleep," she told him firmly. "Since you are here, and I'm here, and it's only the middle of the day, I would rather talk."

"Okay." Jason agreed and moved on the bed so he was sitting beside her, being careful not to jostle her too much. Rory move automatically so she was leaning against her chest. He moved his left arm down so it rested below her sling. It wasn't the most comfortable position in the world, but he just wanted to hold her. He knew that she wanted that connection as well. Even while he held himself stiff so he wouldn't hurt her, he could feel her relax against him more and more. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Whatever you choose." The rumble the words caused in his chest was soothing to Rory, she shifted slightly so her head was resting over his heart. She couldn't remember what had happened, but she knew that she had been afraid. Afraid of dying, but more importantly afraid that she would never see him again. So lying there next to him, with his arms around her, and listening to the steady beat of his heart was reassuring to her.

"Whatever I choose? You normally don't give me that much leeway." He could hear the sleepiness in her voice and knew it wouldn't be much longer until she was out. As if reading his mind she jerked suddenly, and he knew she'd caught herself before she fell asleep.

"Talk Jason." Rory blinked her eyes open.

"There is something I wanted to talk about, something I promised myself we would discuss when I was looking for you earlier." He took her good hand in his.

"That sound's ominous."

"It's not a bad thing, it's just a talk that we're long overdue for." He went on seriously.

Suddenly uneasy Rory tensed again, she didn't know if she wanted to know what he was talking about. She searched for a way to change the subject and wrinkled her nose. "Jesus Morgan, it's bad enough you drink the stuff, but do you have to bathe in coffee too?"

Jason frowned and sniffed, he could smell the aroma of French Vanilla coming from his clothes. "I told you I had an accident."

"What you accidentally tried to swim in the beans instead of grinding them?" She settled against him again, the smell wasn't that bad, in fact it was kind of nice, but it was still coffee.

"Quit trying to distract me." Jason ordered.

"Bossy much?" The words didn't pack much punch, she was too comfortable to argue with him, instead she closed her eyes and rested against him.

Jason counted to ten in his head before going on. "When I realized that you were missing, I didn't know what to do. It was different when Emily was kidnapped, I knew who had her and could go after her, but you were just gone," he paused. "You had vanished just like Michael had vanished, it was only for a while but I still hadn't felt that helpless since Michael was kidnapped."

"I'm sorry." As strong as he was, she knew that for him to feel helpless hurt him far worse than any beating he could ever get.

"I knew something was wrong, before I could confirm it. I just felt it, that was new to me." It was also unsettling, he was used to having instincts when it came to people, and in work situations, but this was different. This time he had felt uneasy for no concrete reason, at least none that he knew of, until he heard she was in the hospital. He had never felt that connected to another person before.

She sighed and snuggled a little further into him, "But I'm okay, and so are you, I guess we both have hard heads."

"I guess." He dropped a kiss into her hair, before going on. "I went everywhere I could think of looking for you, one of the stops was Jake's, I saw the dress you wore last night hanging on the door. Did I tell you how good you looked?"

"You always do," she murmured.

"No I don't, I hardly ever say the words, I'm sorry about that, it just doesn't occur to me to tell you how beautiful you are, because I would have to tell you that all the time. There's probably been lots of times, that I hurt you because I didn't pick up on something that you wanted me to notice, I'm sorry for that." He stared at the far wall, trying to find the words to keep going. "There is a chance that you are in this hospital bed right now because of me, and because of that I really should find a way to let you go. You deserve so much better than what I can give you, but at the same time I'm selfish enough that I want you to stay with me. I know the words scare you, that the idea of anything permanent scares you, but we've been permanent since I walked in that bar and you picked my pocket. It's time I admit the truth, I love you, and I'm not going anywhere." Silence greeted his words. Silence was better than he had hoped for. "I know you're probably mad at me for telling you, but you had to know how I felt long before now. I just want you to get used to me saying that to you, and someday maybe you'll feel comfortable enough to say them back to me." He paused again but she still didn't speak. "Rory?"

"Rory?" He asked again tilting his head to look down at her face, she was asleep. He rubbed the knot of tension that had formed in the back of his neck, they really had to work on their timing.

****

~Records~

Lucky let himself out of the office and headed for the fire stairs when he heard the elevator ding at the end of the hall. He had already found out some stuff about Rory/Elizabeth, and thanks to the program he had rigged on the admissions computers, he would soon be able to find out even more. Once he had all the information he would make his move, and get Elizabeth back home where she belonged.


	26. Then we'll start something.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters TIIC of GH do. They just choose not to use them in an interesting way.

Feedback: Would be marvelous. Like it or hate it, please tell me why.

Distribution: Let me know.

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****

What If…

Chapter 25

****

~GH Hallway~

"So do you think we should check on them?" Carly was beginning to get tired of staring at tile.

Sonny was leaning against the wall beside her. "Bored?"

"How can I be bored when I'm with my amazing husband?"

He looked over at her at that remark. "So you're bored."

"Pathetically so," she admitted with a grin.

"Let's check on them, and depending on how she is, maybe we'll go home."

"Sounds like a plan," her hand began to wander up his chest. "But there is no maybe about it." She had just begun to kiss him when someone cleared their throat behind them.

"Excuse me, Mr. Corinthos." Francis broke up the clinch, keeping his eyes on a spot over their left shoulder.

"Jesus Francis have you ever heard of timing," Carly groused turning her head to glare at him.

"Sorry but its important."

Sonny let go of her and looked at his guard, reading the serious expression on his face, he sighed and looked back at his volatile wife. "Give me a minute."

Carly huffed out a breath and stalked down the hall.

Although she didn't say anything Sonny could feel the displeasure and anger coming off of her in waves, and he knew he'd hear about it later on. "What Francis?"

"I just heard from Cal, I left him at Jake's in case the guy I saw came back."

"And?"

"Well someone did show up, but unfortunately we don't know who, because Cal didn't see them." Francis kept his expression neutral although he wanted to find Cal and beat some sense into him. The idiot had waited behind the door inside the room, instead of picking a spot where he could have full view of the door.

Sonny resisted the urge to groan. "What happened?"

"He got knocked out, he didn't see who it was. I'm guessing it was probably the same man I saw though. No one at Jake's saw or heard anything of course, he came to and called me."

Sonny frowned he knew Francis was probably leaving stuff out, more than likely stuff that Cal had done wrong. Cal was Benny's nephew so he was given a lot of slack. But his patience with Cal was beginning to come to an end. "So we lost our chance to get a line on the guy?"

"Probably," he hated to admit it, but the guy looked professional enough that he wouldn't come back a third time.

"Okay, double the guards on the Penthouses, also put a guard in the office at the warehouse. I don't want anyone to make a move near us without me knowing about it ahead of time."

Francis nodded. "I heard back from the sweepers, both the warehouse and the Penthouses are clean, they are doing the cars now."

"Good," he nodded in dismissal. "Francis if Cal messes up again let me know, helping a friend only goes so far."

Francis nodded a little relieved that his boss had seen the problem. He didn't have anything against Cal, but some people weren't cut out for this kind of work, you had to weed them out quick before they cost someone their life. He spoke briefly with Johnny then headed outside to make the calls.

"Am I allowed to come back now?"

Sonny winced at her tone, she was definitely pissed. "Yes, Carly."

She walked towards him, then past him heading for the door. "Carly wait."

"What Sonny? I'm not asking questions, I'm not complaining, I'm just going to go see Jason," she kept her back to him. What had happened to Rory was making her unreasonably angry and she knew it. But she also knew from Sonny's behavior that what had happened wasn't an accident. She knew that the life she had with Sonny was dangerous, but knowing that and seeing it were two different things.

She had seen the hurt on Jason's face when he was waiting to find out about Rory, and even though it was horrible, and even as much as she did love Jason, she was relieved that it was him worrying about Rory, and not her worrying about Sonny. She realized that wasn't very nice or very big of her, but the thought of losing Sonny terrified her and blinded her to almost everything else. Now that she knew Rory was going to be okay she felt guilty, and that of course made her mad, and Sonny was an easy target to take it out on. 

She jolted when Sonny slipped an arm around her waist. "It's okay to be relieved," his voice was next to her ear.

"What do you mean?"

"In the middle of all this craziness, one thought was constant in my head. Thank god Carly wasn't in the car."

She sagged against him in relief, both at his words, and the fact he felt the same way she did. "I've called and checked on Michael three times since I've heard."

"I've done it twice."

She shifted so she could peer through the window at Jason and Rory on the bed. "Do you feel guilty too?"

"A little," he admitted.

"It's not that I wanted this to happen to her. But I can't help feeling…" she trailed off.

"I know I feel it too. But that doesn't mean we don't care about them," he kissed her neck lightly. "It just means we're human."

"Ready?" she took his hand.

"Yes," he pushed the door open.

Jason heard the door and opened his eyes to check who was coming in. He could read the worry and guilt in Carly's eyes and too wide smile, and a reflection of it in Sonny's face as well. He just smiled and tried to let them know that it was okay.

"How is she?" Sonny whispered. "Is she calm now?"

"She was calm the whole time. She was faking to get rid of Taggert," he explained with a shake of his head.

Carly's smile turned genuine, she had to admit that would have been a stunt she would have pulled. Of course she would have probably messed it up, but she would definitely do it.

Jason looked so comfortable that Sonny hated to disturb him, but he needed to know what was going on. His eyes met Jason's and he jerked his head to the door.

Jason nodded. "Carly can you sit with her for awhile? I need to talk to Sonny and I don't want her to wake up alone."

"Of course," she headed for the chair by the bed.

Jason moved slowly, easing Rory's head and shoulder off his chest and back on the pillow, being careful not to jar her sore shoulder. Soon he was standing by the bed, their only connection, her grip on his shirt, which hadn't relaxed even in her slumber. He gently uncurled her fingers and eased her hand down. He bent down close to her ear, "I'll be back soon Rory, just sleep." He kissed her cheek and moved from the bed, pausing in front of Carly.

"Go on Jase," Carly gave him a hug. "I promise she won't be alone."

"Thank you," he hugged her back before heading out of the room.

****

~4th Floor~

"I found out where they moved her," Emily headed back towards Nikolas. "I'll go wait by her room and if I see Lucky I'll head him off. Why don't you check around here, then check Kelly's he might have left another way."

Nikolas frowned at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, there's no need for both of us to wait by her room, and Jason would rather see me then you," she headed for the elevator not waiting for his agreement.

He caught her arm before she could get on the elevator and turned her to face him.

"Nikolas…" it felt like his touch was branding her and she tried to pull away.

"Emily," he spoke quickly cutting off her protest. "I will go for now and find Lucky. But later on we are going to finish this."

"There's nothing to finish Nikolas," she slipped free and stepped on the elevator.

Strangely enough he smiled at her remark, causing her insides to twist.

"Then we'll start something," he told her as the doors closed.

****

~Garage~

"Sonny why did we have to come all the way down here to talk?" Jason trailed him to the limo.

"Because we need to talk alone," he looked over at the driver. "Is it clean Max?"

"Yes," Max opened the door for them.

Sonny waited until Jason was settled before speaking. "I found some things out."

"About Rory's accident?"

"Yes about Rory," he hedged, then decided to be blunt, knowing Jason would prefer that. "It wasn't an accident."

Jason's eyes, which had been half-closed, opened at that remark and focused on Sonny. _It wasn't an accident_ those four words seem to repeat in his head over and over again. They were four words that could change his life if he let them.

"We heard from one of our people at PCPD, the head tech there Whitey is telling Taggert that someone deliberately pushed her car over that cliff. As soon as the report is finished we'll get a copy." He noticed Jason had clenched his fists but that was the only outward response to his words.

"So who's making a move? Someone from Puerto Rico or a new player here?" Jason asked after a minute.

"I told you its been quiet here," Sonny sighed before going on. "I don't think we were the target, I think it was Rory."

"What the hell are you saying Sonny?"

"I don't have anything concrete yet, but let me tell you what I've found and what I think," he held up his hand when Jason started to speak. "You can decide how we move from there."

"Okay," he already knew he wasn't going to like what Sonny had to say. Sonny's instincts were normally on target, so there was a good chance that someone had deliberately tried to kill Rory because of her, and not him. He should have been relieved that he wasn't the reason she was hurt, but he wasn't. If he had been the cause, it would be easy enough for him to find out who did it and eliminate them. But if Rory was the target, he would have a harder time trying to identify the threat, and he didn't like that. She meant more to him then anyone, and he wasn't about to see her hurt again. 

****

~Room 617~

Carly was filing her nails when she felt eyes on her. She looked up and met Rory's gaze. "Hi."

Her mouth was so dry it was hard to speak, but she wasn't hurting as bad. "D-drink?"

Carly quickly poured her some water from a pitcher, she moved closer and helped Rory sit up and take a drink. "There ought to be a straw. What kind of place doesn't give you a straw?"

"I ought to sue," Rory eased her head back against the pillows, it was easier to speak now. "Where is Jason?"

"Man talk," Carly rolled her eyes. "In other words they are talking about you and we are just too delicate to hear."

"It sounds like you've been through this before."

"Oh yes, for awhile Sonny's favorite phrase was go upstairs Carly and since he wasn't coming with me, upstairs was no fun."

Rory snorted then immediately regretted it. "Don't make me laugh."

Instantly contrite Carly moved closer. "Sorry."

"It's okay," she closed her eyes to focus herself. "Can you give me a rundown on my injuries?"

"I don't think…"

"Carly I need to know and I'd like to find out before Jason comes back, so I know what to expect."

Carly thought about it for a minute then pressed the nurse's call button. "I'll let them explain it."

"How is Jason?" the memory of the bandage on his head came back to her.

"He's fine he's just with Sonny."

"How did he get hurt?" She needed answers so she would start with the important ones.

"Apparently some bags fell on him at work. I don't think it was anything serious." Carly tried to downplay the incident. She had a feeling there was more to it than that but she didn't want to upset Rory.

"How are we doing Rory?" Nurse Amy Vining entered the room, smiling brightly and moved to the chart at the end of the bed.

"I don't know how "we" are but I'm just peachy." Why did nurses insist on speaking like that?

Amy looked up from the chart with a frown. "You did call for a nurse didn't you?"

"Yes I wanted to know what was wrong with we, I mean me."

Carly grinned at the look on Amy's face, her and the blonde gossip box had never gotten along, so this was entertaining for her.

"I'm just doing my job here." Amy frowned at Carly, knowing that it must be her influence to make Rory act this way. She had just wanted to get a close-up look at the ghost, so she could see if the story was true before she repeated it. She didn't expect to get attitude for it.

"Sorry I would just like to know the status of my injuries," Rory shifted slowly on the bed. "You can start with why my arm is in a sling."

"Your shoulder was separated, we set it, and are using the sling to immobilize it. You should only have to wear it for a week," she looked at the chart again. "As for your head, you sustained a concussion and some memory loss, we are going to keep you overnight to monitor you."

"Just tonight right?"

"Yes unless you have a setback, other than that you have bruises and minor lacerations on your back and primarily your left side. All in all you are very fortunate," she moved over and checked the IV. "Do you need another shot?"

"Will it make me sleep?" She was hurting but wanted to stay alert as well.

"Probably."

"Then no, I'll be fine," she didn't want to sleep anymore. She'd rather have pain then a foggy brain.

"Okay if you change your mind, press the call button." Amy headed for the door, not even sparing Carly a glance. She couldn't wait to spread the news, Rory was definitely a ringer for Elizabeth Webber, in fact she had almost become a dead ringer.

"Doesn't she just give you a warm fuzzy feeling right here?" Carly pointed to her stomach. "Kind of like a gag reflex."

Rory laughed again. "Stop that."

"Well I notice that Amy didn't say anything about your charming personality changing so I'm assuming we'll be stuck with that."

"Ha-ha," Rory looked at her. "You want to go and find me some food? I'm starved."

"I don't know, I don't want to leave you…"

"Ahh will you miss me Blondie?" she put a hand over her heart. "I'm so touched."

"Not hardly shortey," Carly shot back. "Jason doesn't want you to be alone."

"Carly I just need a few minutes to myself," her voice was serious. "I need to process some things before he comes back."

"You know you don't have to do that. Jason's a great guy, he wants to be here for you," her dark eyes were serious. "You should let him in."

"There's no way I could keep him out," she admitted softly. "I just need some time alone."

"I'll be back with some food then," she got to her feet hoping she wouldn't regret it.

"Thanks," Rory forced a smile when Carly paused in the door and turned back to look at her. "I'm fine. Now leave before I start to think you actually like me."

"As if," Carly retorted, she walked outside and paused in front of Francis. "Keep an eye on her."

Rory closed her eyes as soon as Carly left. She began to move slowly taking stock of her body, trying to find out what didn't hurt. Unfortunately there wasn't much. She opened her eyes, she had a nagging feeling that she should remember something, something to do with Jason. He had been talking to her, and holding her before she fell asleep, but she couldn't remember what he'd said. She wished she could because she had a feeling it was important.

No one had said anything, but she knew she had almost died. She could read that much in Jason's eyes. That realization was what prompted the need to be alone. She knew that she was in love with Jason, that she had been in love with him for months now. But she didn't realize how much she really did love him until she almost lost him.

"I love Jason."

It was the first time she had said the words aloud. She wondered if she would ever have enough courage to say the words to him. Her own insecurities about love and permanence held her back every time she went to tell him. She frowned then, besides it wasn't like he was chomping at the bit to tell her he loved her. So who was to say that he did love her? She knew he cared, and sometimes she believed he did love her, but she didn't know for sure. And she wasn't willing to lay her heart on the line and find out. Because she truly did not know what she would do if he didn't love her back. She shook her head, sending off a wave of dizziness, besides kill him that is.

"God these drugs are making me loopy," she wished he'd come back and hold her again.

****

~Hallway~

"Hi Francis," Emily called getting the guard's attention before moving closer.

"Ms. Quartermaine," he nodded at her.

"Is Jason inside?" she gestured to the door.

"No, Ms. Nichols is alone, Jason went with Mr. Corinthos."

"Okay, I'll wait inside if that's okay?"

"Sure," he was reaching to open the door, when she put a hand on his arm stopping him. "Yes?"

"Do you know Lucky Spencer?"

"Yes," he knew him and had explicit instructions about him too. Namely he wasn't allowed anywhere near Rory.

"If he shows up, will you tell me, and I'll get him out of here?" she didn't see a reaction to her request and pressed on. "Please Francis, don't hurt him, just tell me and I'll make him leave."

"I'll tell you if he shows up," it was the only concession he could give her. He knew she wanted to protect her friend, but the mere fact she was worried about what would happen if he showed up here, told him that Lucky wasn't behaving rationally.

"I guess I'll have to settle for that," she smiled and stepped inside the room.

"That was quick. What did you do swipe another patient's tray?" Rory spoke when the door opened but kept her eyes closed.

"What?" Emily headed for the bed.

"Sorry, I thought you were Carly."

"I have to admit no one's ever accused me of being Carly before," Emily shrugged out of her jacket and sat in the chair. "So how are you?"

"I'm okay in fact I hope I look better than you," Rory studied her. "You look like you should be in this bed and not me."

Emily automatically put a hand to her face. "That's a great ego boost."

"Sorry, I haven't been fed yet, so I tend to get cranky."

"And here I thought it was a by-product of going over a cliff," Emily retorted without thinking.

"I went over a cliff?" her eyes were wide. "I didn't know New York had cliffs."

"I thought you knew," Emily touched her hand to offer comfort and immediately started kicking herself for mentioning it.

"No there's some things I don't remember," she tried to joke off her uneasiness. "I guess I need to practice my cliff diving before I go to Hawaii."

__

That's the way she handles things, she cracks jokes, teases, anything to draw the attention off of what she's really feeling. Her sense of humor is her defense mechanism. Jason's words came back to Emily and she saw the truth in them. She decided not to make a big deal out of it. "So I take it Carly went for food?"

"Yeah I'm hoping for Mexican," her head was a lot clearer then it had been, but her body was beginning to radiate pain again.

"Well had you met me, we would have had Mexican," Emily replied.

"Met you?" She trailed off a faint memory coming to her. "You called, was that this morning?"

"Yes I called you this morning, we were going to meet."

She pushed past the pain and tried to remember more but came up blank. She groaned in pain.

"Are you okay? Do you need a nurse?" Emily was already reaching for the call button.

"No, I'm just trying to remember. God it's frustrating," she moved the bed up so she was sitting up, feeling a little dizzy when she did so.

"Well don't push it, just forget about it. Trust me there are some mornings that I would love to block out."

Rory tilted her head to study her. "Like this morning?"

"No as awful as this morning was at times, I want to remember it." The memory of waking up in Nikolas' arms was one she would treasure forever. She could have lived without hearing Gia on the phone, but for a minute it was perfect.

"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? What happened this morning?"

"I guess, also I wanted to finish our talk about Zander," she shook her head. "But there's no need to go into that now."

"Why not, I'm not going anywhere," Rory could tell that she really needed to unload, and at the moment she seemed to be a captive audience.

"Are you sure?" Emily wanted to talk to her but she did just have a car accident.

"Yeah talk to me Em."

God how many times had she heard that? From Nikolas, from Lucky, from Jason, even Lila. Looking into Rory's battered face, she realized she was ready to talk. "It's about Zander, me and…"

"Mr. Cassadine is here to see you Ms. Quartermaine," Francis interrupted her from the doorway.

"Let him in," Rory called. Who knew they had doormen in hospitals? She had definitely been in the wrong ones.

Nikolas walked in the room his eyes automatically searching for Emily. She met his eyes for a second and then nervously got to her feet, shifting slightly to look at him. "I'm glad you are doing better Rory," he finally looked at her. "I was sorry to hear about your accident."

"I'll be fine," Rory observed with interest the way Nikolas' eyes kept drifting from her to a suddenly nervous Emily who was looking everywhere but at him. "I'm touched you wanted to check on me, but I have a feeling you're here for another reason."

"Actually yes," his voice was apologetic. He had been concerned about her, but she was not the primary reason for him to be here. "I just wanted to let Emily know that the friend we were looking for is at home."

That caused Emily to look at him. "Is he okay?"

"Yes."

Emily sighed in relief, then immediately went tense again. "Thank you for letting me know."

Nikolas frowned at her dismissive tone, he was getting tired of her trying to avoid him. "If you're ready I thought we would finish our talk now."

"I already told you there is nothing to finish," Emily retorted eyeing him warily.

Rory was fascinated more by what they weren't saying then what they were. Headache or not, it was easy to read the tension between the two. And even though Emily may be snapping at him, she had a feeling anger wasn't motivating it. His hands, which had been resting at the foot of the bed were now gripping the board there tightly. Emily had been twisting the blanket in her hands, once her eyes met his, her movements stopped.

"You are mistaken about that," Nikolas corrected.

Emily couldn't help the shiver that went through her at his words, but she fought the sensation back, and concentrated on the task at hand, which was getting rid of him. "Fine I don't want to fight with you, but as you can see I'm here with Rory and I'm not going to leave her. We will have to talk another time."

He had forgotten for a minute where he was, he glanced at Rory who smiled back at him. Emily had been making him so angry lately that he was acting out of character. How had that happened? "I am sorry if I have disturbed you Rory."

"You haven't this has all been fascinating, in fact if you need to talk to Emily," she broke off when Emily turned her panicked eyes on her. There was no way to ignore the plea in them. "Do you mind waiting until tomorrow? I really would like her to stay until Jason comes back."

"Of course," Nikolas backed off immediately. "I'll talk to you later tonight Emily."

"Or tomorrow, after all you don't want to keep Gia waiting," Emily reminded him sweetly.

Nikolas paled, he hadn't thought of Gia, since her phone call had interrupted them this morning. "I hope you feel better Rory," he told her in goodbye as he headed for the door.

Emily stared after him for a long minute after the door closed.

"So," Rory spoke up, tired of the sadness on Emily's face, she tried to lighten the mood. "Is he really a prince?"

"Yeah he's a real prince," Emily answered softly, and in more ways than one.

"So is he one of the things you wanted to talk about?"

Emily sank in the chair. "What makes you ask that?"

"Emily I have a head injury, but I'm not blind. You two were saying a lot more with your eyes then you were with your words," she straightened the blanket Emily had twisted. "In fact I can't wait for the next show."

"God when did my life become so complicated?" Emily collapsed back in the chair.

"Puberty?" Rory offered with a smile.

"I can't deal with Nikolas right now, not with everything else that is going on. But he seems determined to make me talk to him."

"Emily…"

"I return triumphant," Carly entered the room carrying a bag. "Emily," her smile dimmed a bit when she saw her.

"Carly."

"What did you bring me?" Rory demanded. Whatever it was it smelled good enough to make her stomach growl.

"Subs, I didn't know what you'd like so I got a variety, I figured we could palm the rest off someone." Carly set the bag on the table and rolled it up towards Rory. "So is the truce on today?" She asked Emily.

"As far as I'm concerned it is, I don't feel like arguing today." Emily replied smiling slightly. Relations between her and Carly seemed to vary every time they saw each other. But she didn't want to fight today.

"Good then dig in before shortey here eats it all," Carly gestured to Rory who was already eating. "Don't let her size fool you she packs it away."

"That's right Blondie pick on the injured," Rory snapped.

****

~Hallway~

"So are you going to tell Rory?" Sonny paused a few feet down the hall from her room.

"Yes."

Surprised Sonny looked at him. "Are you sure that is wise?"

"We don't keep secrets Sonny," Jason rubbed at the back of his neck. "Especially not when it's this big and it involves her. Besides she'd pick up on the fact that I was holding something back."

Sonny considered that, he had already seen that Jason's relationship with Rory was different than what he had with Carly, but he couldn't help but feel that women should be protected from the ugliness. Even if that ugliness was the truth. "Maybe you should wait until she's out of the hospital," he saw Jason's face and hurried on. "Besides by that time we should have the report on the accident and might have a better idea of what were dealing with."

Jason sighed he could see the truth in what Sonny was saying, and he didn't want to upset Rory anymore than he had too. But he also knew her, she didn't like to be kept in the dark. She understood when it was his work, but if it was about her, he knew she wouldn't.

"Just think about it," Sonny finished before crossing to Francis. "Any problems?"

"No Emily Quartermaine is in there along with Mrs. Corinthos, and Nikolas Cassadine came by briefly. The only other visitor she had was a nurse."

"Good," Jason stuck out his hand. "It's good to see you again Francis." He was glad that he was here at the door. Next to Johnny he had the most faith in him.

Francis allowed himself to smile. "You too Jason." He had always liked Jason. He had been with Mr. Corinthos longer than Jason but he didn't resent the younger man who had so quickly climbed the ranks and became his successor. In fact he didn't even have a problem with it. He was happy in his own niche in the organization. Sometimes he guarded people, but the rest of the time he was the resident electronics/explosives expert and that suited him just fine.

Jason walked inside the room and the first thing he heard was her laugh, and he couldn't help but smile in relief when he did. He knew then that she would be okay.

"Jason thank god you're here," Rory cried her eyes lighting up when she saw him.

"Is something wrong?" He crossed to her in concern, he saw a half eaten sandwich on the tray in front of her and wondered if she was ill.

"No," she waved off his concern. "Apparently I went cliff diving and that's why I'm here they," she glared at Carly and Emily. "Won't tell me what happened to my car."

Jason was quiet he should have known that would be one of her first questions. Looking into her eyes, he could see the pain and curiosity in them, and he just couldn't tell her.

"Jason?" Rory prompted him.

Sonny glanced at Jason, not understanding his unwillingness to answer her question. "I'm afraid your car is gone Rory."

Jason flinched and Rory turned her questioning eyes on Sonny. "What do you mean gone?"

Sonny heard the anger in her tone and was puzzled, it was only a car, why was she getting upset? "Rory honey its at the bottom of Crystal Lake right now."

Jason braced himself for the explosion.

Rory stared at Sonny, her mouth dropping open in surprise before she bowed her head, into her good hand.

"Rory it's just a car," Jason crouched by the bed when he saw her shoulders begin to shake. "It can always be replaced."

Rory shook even harder, finally raising her head and letting her laughter out. "It's not…" she gasped. "That," she paused again to laugh. "Owww…" she clutched her head in pain but kept laughing.

Carly was eyeing her cautiously was she losing it?

"Oww," even though it hurt she couldn't stop laughing.

"Rory calm down," Jason took her hand in concern.

"It's just, I'm dating Jason," she paused and tried to calm herself. "And there's a Crystal Lake nearby."

Carly was the first to figure it out, she looked from Rory's face that was contorted in laughter and pain, and Jason's who looked confused, and let out a laugh. In that instant she realized that Rory was in fact perfect for him.

Sonny looked at her in surprise.

"I wouldn't worry Rory," Carly said when she caught her breath. "Not unless he takes up hockey."

That was enough for Emily to figure it out and she began to giggle.

Sonny and Jason exchanged glances, both wondering if they had lost their minds.

Emily covered her mouth and tried to calm down, when she saw the look on her brother's face. It wasn't that funny, but god she had needed a laugh.

"Please calm down Rory," Jason asked softly. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"What is so funny? I could hear you all the way in the hall." Dr. Tony Jones demanded shoving the door open with a bang.

Instantly the laughter died, and tension and hostility entered the room instead.

"There are far too many people in this room. She has had a major head trauma. She needs quiet and rest, not a party. You are all going to have to leave."

"Now look here Tony," Carly snarled.

"Carly," Sonny interrupted her. "Let's just leave. He's right Rory needs to rest."

"And that certainly won't happen with you around Carly. In fact you will be a hindrance to her recovery, so leave," Tony muttered opening the chart.

Sonny squeezed her hand to keep her quiet and moved closer to Tony. "My gratitude for what you did for Stone only goes so far. If you disrespect my wife again, it will be gone." His voice was soft but his eyes carried the threat.

Tony tried to show no reaction and quickly turned back to the chart, but the chart in his hands was shaking.

"Rory, Jason we'll see you later," Sonny addressed them, before turning to Emily. "Do you need a ride?"

"Oh my god," Rory suddenly went pale and reached for Jason. "Is my car really in the lake?"

"Yes."

"My picture. God Jason the photo was in the car," her eyes started to feel with tears. "It's gone."

"No," he sat on the bed instantly recognizing her fear. "You brought that suitcase in last night, it wasn't in the car."

"It wasn't?" she asked shakily. "But what if I put it back in the car. Then it's gone. Jason it can't be gone," her tears started to fall.

"No Rory, I'm sure it's not gone. I doubt you took the suitcase back to the car." He tried to reassure her.

"But you don't know that. Our room was so crowded I could've taken it back to the car. What if it's gone?" her eyes were begging him to tell her it wasn't.

"I'll go find it," he told her brushing the tears from her face.

She clutched his hand in relief. "You will?"

"Yeah, I'll go right now," he squeezed her hand. "But you have to calm down for me, okay?"

She nodded quickly and tried to take a breath. "Okay just find it please."

"I will," he kissed her briefly and turned away from the bed, hesitating when he saw Tony.

"I'll stay with her," Emily piped up quickly.

"Thanks," Jason gave her a hug while leveling another warning look at Tony, who wisely held his tongue.

"Hurry Jason," she tried to keep the plea from her voice but she knew he heard it. She didn't know what she would do if she lost the photo. It was true that she had long since memorized it and could picture it in her head if she wanted too, but that wasn't enough. The photo was one of the few tangible links she had to her parents and she had carried it with her everywhere since she was five. If she were to lose it, it would be like losing her parents all over again. She tried to smile, "and shower before you come back. You know I hate coffee."

"Emily I need to examine her, can you wait outside?" Tony asked.

She nodded and followed Jason and the others out of the room.

****

~Hallway~

"What photo?" Carly demanded as soon as they were in the hall. Rory hadn't even showed that she was bothered by her injuries and now she had almost lost if over a photo.

"It's one of her parents, in fact it's the only she has of them." Jason explained wearily. He didn't want to leave her, but he knew she wouldn't rest until he found it.

"The only one?" Sonny asked in surprise.

"They died in a fire when she was five, she doesn't have very much from them. But she has that photo, and where she goes it goes." He frowned. He had to find it for her, it meant too much to her for him not too. 

****

~Kelly's~

Lucky scowled at his computer it had been awhile since he hacked into something. But the security that the hospital used was a joke. It had taken him less than a half an hour to install a program that automatically sent any information regarding Rory Nichols to his computer. Now all he had to do was wait for the nurses to input the information.

He ignored his phone when it began to ring an concentrated on the computer instead willing it to start typing. He sipped at a root beer and absently listened to Emily's message. He would have to get back to her later.

****

~Dr. Jones' Office~

Eliza frowned at the latest file that her boss had shoved at her. He seemed to have forgotten that she had to leave early today for her son's birthday party. He forgot a lot of things lately. Name of patient, she opened her file and typed Rory Nichols.

****

~Kelly's~

Lucky dropped the football he was flipping around when his computer beeped and information started rolling across his screen. "Finally."


	27. Emily's secret

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters I just use and abuse them

Feedback: Please I'm tired of begging.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

****

What If…

Chapter 26

****

~Room 617~

"Okay Emily you are going to sit down and tell me what is going on with you and you are not allowed to leave here until you do," Rory ordered when Emily came back in the room. She desperately needed a distraction and Emily was going to provide it.

"Are you always this bossy?" Emily asked Jason's request to keep Rory occupied was still ringing in her ears.

"No sometimes I can get downright bitchy if I don't get my way," Rory was busy wrapping the majority of her sandwich back up but she discovered it was kind of hard to wrap a sandwich using only one hand. 

"Thanks for the warning but I'm not sure I'll be able to tell the difference," Emily pointed to the now mangled sandwich. "Are you finished with that or do you need a few minutes more?"

"I think I liked you better when you fainted at the sight of me," Rory grumbled shoving the sandwich in Emily's direction.

"You're not going to let me live that down are you?" Emily put the sandwich in the bag and set it on the dresser.

"Would you?" she questioned. "Seriously though I would like you to talk to me."

"Okay," Emily moved back to the chair. "I don't know where to start."

"The beginning is always a good place, or if not there, how about whenever the memory of what has you so spooked happened?"

Emily sighed heavily and collapsed in the chair. "It was two months ago, Zander and I really hadn't been getting along. I guess I was starting to realize that he wasn't the guy I thought he was."

"That's always a hard realization," Rory commiserated.

"Yeah especially when you have a whole town full of people just waiting to say I told you so," she sighed bitterly. "Maybe that's one of the reasons I fight so hard for Zander," her eyes widened in self-disgust. "God that makes me sound awful."

"Actually it makes you sound normal, a lot of people will cling to someone they already have because they are afraid to be alone, or to admit they were wrong about someone, believe me I know."

"You sound like you've been through it," Emily studied her new friend. "Was it bad?"

"Bad enough," Rory frowned, she hated to think about that time in her life. The time she affectionately referred to as her blonde phase. "I wasn't blind to him for very long, but it was long enough to hate myself, for taking so long to kick him to the curb," she shook her head. "I was supposed to be streetwise and could smell a con a mile off, but that little twerp played my like a violin."

"I find that hard to believe you seem so confident."

"Everyone has their weak spots Em," Rory corrected. "And sometimes a person will come along who knows how to exploit those weaknesses. No one is immune."

"What did you do when you found out the truth about him?"

"Oh I broke his nose, had his car stolen, and had him arrested south of the border, when he was with a minor who was also going south of the border on him," she grinned wickedly. "But I have a mean streak."

Emily laughed a bit uneasily, she had a feeling that Rory was telling the truth. "Remind me not to cross you."

"Anyway bad things happen Emily, how long you let them happen to you is the only thing that you can control."

"I suppose you're right," Emily sighed. "I had been pulling back from Zander and he knew it. So he kept up the pressure on me, he was cheating on me, but I never confronted him. If I did I knew he would deny it, or twist it around and make it my fault because I wasn't sleeping with him. He kept on pressuring me, so much so, that I went to a doctor and got on the pill just to make sure that if anything ever happened I would be protected."

Rory bit her tongue to keep from ripping Zander, she was here to listen to Emily not to offer to castrate her boyfriend, no matter how tempting the thought might be.

"I didn't tell Zander that though, he would take it to mean that I was ready to sleep with him, which I wasn't. One night I ended up at his place to watch a movie, and we started kissing. After a little bit I told him to stop, but he didn't. Finally I yelled at him to stop, and he let me go. But later on," her voice trailed off and she took a deep breath before going on. "I passed out."

"Were you drinking?"

"No," she met Rory's eyes. "I only had a soda. One that he gave me."

Rory closed her eyes recognizing the implications of that.

"When I woke up, I was on the bed, I was still dressed but some of my buttons were wrong. He told me that nothing happened, that when I fell asleep he moved me to the bed so I would be more comfortable."

"But?" Rory prompted.

"But I had that foggy head you get after taking drugs. Like I had that awful morning when I woke up next to Ted's dead body. I knew something had happened," she couldn't sit anymore, she got up and paced to the window. "I wasn't sore, I didn't have any bruises, so I should believe my boyfriend when he says nothing happened right?" She turned to look at Rory. "But I also haven't had my period since then, I don't feel good in the mornings, I feel weak at different times during the day. And maybe the most critical thing is Zander has backed away from pressuring me for sex. Like he knows that if I give in now, I'll know it's not my first time."

"God Emily," Rory pushed her anger down and instead tried to think what was best for Emily. "You know what you have to do. You need to take a pregnancy test."

"I know. I finally bought one last week, it was my birthday present to myself," she ran a hand through her hair. "Happy 18th Emily, you're gift may be a baby."

"Did you take it?"

"No. I'm afraid too. If I'm pregnant then Zander ra…" she couldn't say the word. This was the guy she had thought she was in love with.

"Then Zander raped you. He did that to you. You did nothing wrong, nothing to deserve this," Rory leaned forward and flinched at the pain she felt but didn't back down. "Emily if you never believe another word I say, I need you to believe this. No matter what the result is, you did nothing wrong."

"Then why do I feel so ashamed?" Emily moved back to the bed and sat on the edge. "Why do I feel so dirty? Why do I feel like I need to punish myself?"

"Guilt can be a disease Em, just a little bit can go a long way," Rory patted her hand. "But it can also be wrong," she tilted her head to look at Emily. "What aren't you telling me?"

"It's bad. I hate to say it, it's so bad." Emily whispered. "A part of me wants to be pregnant, because then I would be justified in thinking all of these bad things about Zander. Because if I'm not and he did nothing wrong, then I'm really awful for thinking any of this."

"You can live with that Emily, you might feel bad, but you can live with it. You can live with being wrong about him, a lot easier then you can live with being pregnant. What this has shown, though, is deep down you don't trust Zander. If you did, you never would have considered this. So that tells me that this relationship isn't going to last."

Emily was quiet.

"Em you seem pretty smart, the only dumb move you can make in this situation is to stay with Zander. And I mean that even if you aren't pregnant." She shifted slowly and stifled a groan of pain.

Emily groaned and rubbed a hand over her face. "I know that in my head most of the time. But then there are those times that I feel so guilty that I have to give him a break."

"Does your guilt button arrive on its own? Or does it have help from a certain guy?"

"Yes, he knows how to play me." Now that she had admitted her fears to Rory, the next step was easier, admitting the truth. And the truth was Zander and her didn't belong together, that their relationship was unhealthy.

"Emily you helped him out of the worse jam in his life. He didn't go to death row for something he didn't do thanks to your help. You even tried to have a relationship with him, but it just didn't work," she shifted again and finally gave into temptation and pressed the nurse's call button. "Zander might be upset at first, but he can't be too mad, you saved his life. Without you he would either be in jail, or dead."

"So you're saying I should end it?" She wanted someone she trusted to tell her what to do, to make the decision for her. She didn't want to act like an adult.

"Emily I can't tell you what to do, no one can. You need to do whatever you have too, to put yourself first. I know that sounds selfish, but until you do that, you will never have a healthy relationship with anyone," she paused and studied Emily. "I think you already know what you have to do about Zander. You just need to say the words and make it real."

"Hi Rory, I'm Melissa," a blonde nurse entered the room. She drummed up a smile for the girl on the bed, the guard at the door had unnerved her. With her history with her brother she could spot one of 'the boys' a mile off, and she hadn't expected to see one here. "Did you need something?"

Rory smiled weakly, she already liked this nurse better than the last one, she didn't have the 'we' obsession. "Yes, I can't fight it anymore," she looked apologetically at a confused Emily. "I need a pain shot."

Melissa looked up from the chart. "I'm not surprised, you should have had one a few hours ago," she put the chart down. "I'll be right back."

"You should have told me you were hurting," Emily complained. "Now I really feel bad, we could have done this another time."

"Emily I refused the shot, because I knew it would make me sleep and I didn't want to do that. And I ordered you to talk, so don't waste the guilt on me," Rory snapped grumpily.

"Is this the bitchy part that you warned me about?" Emily teased.

"Why don't we play a new game? It's called pick on the injured." Rory sniped jerking her head to glare at her, her head decided to react badly to that move. "God damn…."

Emily's eyes went wide when she heard the litany of curses come flying out of Rory's mouth. She concentrated hard trying to remember some of them, what was that bloody buggering what?

"Oops," Rory smiled when she wound down. "I tend to curse too."

"I'll say," Melissa commented making her presence known. "That was some of the best I've heard in a long time. You put the orderlies to shame let me tell you."

"I don't think I've even heard some of those words," Emily's voice was awed.

"Yeah well you spend enough time around Barkers and you pick things up," Rory explained. "How long before this kicks in?"

"Probably five minutes," Melissa withdrew the needle form the IV leading to her hand. "I'm afraid you'll probably be asleep not long after that."

"Figures," Rory groused.

Melissa noted her blood pressure and pulse rate on the chart, and with a final smile she left the room.

"What are Barkers?"

"A Barker," Rory repeated, had it been five minutes? Because she was starting to float. "Barkers, Hawkers, Ring Masters, Sellers, Carnies, Floaters, Gypsies, Roustabouts, Roundabouts, whatever name you choose it means the same. Their carnival or circus names."

"You were in a circus?" Emily questioned.

"Off and on, sometimes me and Uncle Gabe would travel with some," she smothered a yawn.

"What did you do?" Emily rested her chin on her hand in fascination.

"You name it I did it. Pitched tents, worked with the tigers, running the games, hawk the customers to the freakshow, clown rotation, high wire work, trapeze, knife throwing, elephant…"

"Wait," Emily interrupted her listing. "You threw knives?"

"No, I was normally the target," she grinned. "But Anatolyi taught me a few tricks. Basically I was a roundabout, wherever they needed a hand I was there, either performing or behind the scenes."

"What was your favorite job?" This was so fascinating to her, she had always wanted to travel with the circus.

"High wire. It's just you on a cable an 1" thick, you walk on it, juggle, spin, ride a bike, and your doing it all when your 40 feet off the ground," her words were slurring.

"It sounds scary," Emily spoke softly, watching Rory's eyes flutter.

"It can be, but that's part of the thrill. It's all about control, and keeping it," she explained groggily. "You have to control every inch of your body, because if you even breathe at the wrong time you can fall. I loved that feeling, you're right there, on the edge of going out of control. How long can you keep your balan…" her voice trailed off and her eyes drifted closed.

Emily leaned back in the chair. It was funny but the more time she spent with Rory the less she thought about Elizabeth. Elizabeth would never have done a high wire act, or thrown knives. But the way Rory's eyes lit when she talked about it, it was obvious that Rory had not only done it, but also loved it.

"Emily."

Emily jerked out of her thoughts when she heard Rory's voice. She turned to look at her face and the serious expression there got her attention. "What?"

"First thing in the morning take the test and find out for sure. Then come here and we'll discuss the next step," Rory ordered.

"Okay," she smiled relieved that she wasn't alone in this anymore.

"Was there anything else bothering you?" Rory wondered if she'd mention the exchange with the Prince.

Emily thought of Nikolas and then Monica, and then felt guilty because she hadn't done anything about her mother yet. "There is something but I need to talk to Jason about that."

"Okay he would love to talk to you about anything," her smile was weak. "I hope you know how much you mean to him."

"I think I do, sometimes anyway."

"Emily when he talks about you, he gets such a smile on his face. He'd do anything for you, he loves you."

"I love him too, and would do anything for him."

"I'm glad," she frowned. "But right now I want you to ignore what he told you to do, and leave."

"What?" That had come out of nowhere.

"I know that he told you to stay and baby-sit me until he comes back, but I would much rather be alone."

"Why? I'll be quiet."

"If you stay I will fight the drugs to stay awake," just like she was fighting them now. "If you sit and watch me sleep, which trust me isn't that entertaining, I will know you're here and it won't be restful for me. And Em, nothing personal but there is only one person who is allowed to watch me sleep, and sometimes when he does it, it still unnerves me. So for the sake of my sanity will you please leave."

"Are you sure?" Emily was already on her feet.

"Yes go, I release you from your vow, and I'll take the heat from Jason," her eyes were already closing.

"I'll be here in the morning then," Emily said before closing the door. "Goodbye Francis," she smiled at the guard. "I've been kicked out so she can sleep."

"I'll see she's not disturbed."

"Good," Emily hurried down the hall to the payphone and dialed a number from memory. 

"Jason," she paused. "No nothing is wrong, Rory just kicked me out," she grinned. "Yes she warned me about her bitchiness. She got another shot for the pain and it knocked her out, she was probably going to sleep for a couple of hours and wanted to be alone while she did," she twisted the phone cord in her hand and listened. "Yeah she told me. Do you want me to wait? … I can? … Are you sure? … Okay I'll see you tomorrow."

She hung up the phone slowly, and turned around letting out an exclamation of surprise. "Zander you startled me."

"Sorry," he smiled at her. "I've been looking for you everywhere. Your phone has been off, I was beginning to wonder if you're avoiding me."

"No." Was she ready to do this now? "You can't use cell phones in the hospital, so I turned it off."

"Oh," he decided not to push her on that point. He needed to get back in her good graces and that meant no stupid fights. Now that she had finally turned 18 it was time to step up the plan, well that and the fact she was pulling away from him again. "Let's get out of her," he slipped an arm around her waist pulling her closer. "I've missed you."

Emily stepped away from him. "Actually I really do need to talk to you."

He frowned when she pulled away, then turned it into a smile. "Fine let's go," he put his hand on her arm to lead her to the elevator, but she didn't move. "Emily?"

"I would rather talk here," where there were lots of people around. She pulled her arm free and headed for the lounge.

Zander frowned after her, he didn't like the way she was acting. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and he looked around to see who was giving him the evil eye. He spotted Francis down the hall giving him a cold look. Zander sneered in his direction and then followed Emily to the lounge.

****

~Cliff Road~

Jason closed the phone and tucked it back in his pocket. He was feeling strangely indecisive and that wasn't like him. The last of the crime scene vans had left the accident site about five minutes ago and he still hadn't moved closer. They had left the official site blocked off with the bright yellow crime scene tape, but that was easy enough to get around. No what was stalling him, was the bright red spray-painted X's he saw on the road. X's that marked the spots Rory traveled in her out of control drive down the hill.

A part of him had known that it had been rough, but seeing that jagged trail showed just showed how bad it was. He moved away from his bike and walked the route. The road was quiet, but then again it normally was. Sunset was almost gone, and the fair amber gold was beginning to fade making it dim.

He didn't know why he had come here, he didn't even have the report yet so he didn't know what he was looking for. He just knew he had to see it. He had reached the crime scene tape and ducked under it knowing it was safe to walk on the ground. Francis had once told him that the first thing the tech guys did was photograph the scene, including all the footprints, and if necessary make casts of them. Footprints were the hardest things to preserve in a crime scene so they were done first before the police contaminated the scene.

He paused by the old tree that she had obviously hit, the tree was strong, and it would no doubt survive the impact. He ran his hand over the spot and flicked off some of the bright red paint from her car off the bark. He saw the tire ruts leading to the edge and followed them.

He took a minute and then looked over the side. The daylight was almost gone, so the water below looked dark and murky. But there was still enough light reaching the water that it reflected off the metal undercarriage of her car as it rested, wheels up, underwater.

__

"She could have used someone when she was hanging on the side of the cliff, wondering if she would get out of the car, before it dropped 300 feet into the water below."

Taggert's words came back to him and he clenched his hands in anger. He hated the fact that Taggert was right, she had needed him then. He hoped that she never remembered the accident and how she must have felt hanging here. Even if it was harder for him to find out who had done this to her, he didn't want her to remember the pain and the fear.

The faint sounds of a truck coming up the hill spurred him into movement. Night had come to Port Charles, he took one last look at her car then moved quickly towards his bike. One more stop and then he could get back to her.

****

~Cottage~

"Hey," Gia called as she entered the cottage. "I'm sorry I'm late. Clive kept bitching about the lighting so we ran late."

"That's all right I haven't been here very long myself," Nikolas stayed on the couch but turned to look as she crossed to him.

"Good, I'm glad you're not mad, I hope you'll stay that way," she dropped down beside him. "I know I promised a special evening to make up for the guilt fest I laid on you last night, but Carly scheduled this cocktail party for some overseas distributors, their wooing and I have to make an appearance," she pouted. "Of course Carly can bail out at the last minute, like she just did, but Laura and I have to be there."

Nikolas kept quiet he had an idea why Carly had bailed on the party. He had seen her at the hospital with Sonny and Jason, he was pretty sure she didn't want to leave Sonny. "So you have to work, I understand that, I know how much your work means to you."

She smiled and wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed him. "That's why you are the best," she sighed and put her head on his shoulder.

At the moment he felt more like an ass. "I don't know about that I just know that you need to keep your obligations."

"You want to come with me? You know be Mr. Face for a night," she pulled back and saw his grimace. "I know how much you enjoyed it the last time," she teased.

"As enjoyable as that sounds, no."

"Well you can't say I didn't offer," her eyes moved past him to the clock on the wall. "Jesus its already 6:30 I need to book," she sprang from the couch and headed for the stairs, only to turn around and come back to him. She turned his head so he looked at her and kissed him passionately, "later." She smiled when she broke the kiss and hurried up the stairs.

Nikolas closed his eyes, and swallowed a groan. She had just kissed him the way she always had, and he hadn't felt a flicker of a response. Instead he felt uneasiness, because the kiss felt wrong to him. It had been confident and sexy like usual, and he found he was craving soft and sweet.

"God what am I doing?" He ran a hand over his face. He was comparing Gia's kisses, the woman he was supposed to be in love with, with Emily's. His best friend Emily, his younger friend, still in high school Emily, and the scary part was Emily's kisses were winning.

"What am I going to do?"

****

~Dr. Quartermaine's Office~

"I know that Ellen but I still need to reschedule the biopsy," Monica shifted the phone to her other ear. "My son is back in town with his girlfriend and she was injured today. I just want to be available for him and her. It's not forever it's just until next week."

__

"Monica you know that if the cancer has returned, the sooner we know, the sooner we can start treatment," Dr. Ellen Meadows argued.

"I know but I'm only talking a few days, I doubt it will make a difference."

__

"Monica…"

"Look its my decision," Monica interrupted her. "I said reschedule it." With that she hung up and immediately felt guilty. She was upset and scared but she shouldn't have taken it out on her friend. She knew it wouldn't bother Ellen, she was an Oncologist she was used to far worse, but she still shouldn't have snapped.

She turned her chair to look at the low brown file cabinet that sat behind her desk, and the photos that were on there. Photo's of her family, Edward, Lila, and Reginald, her and Alan, A.J., Jason, and Emily, Ned and Brook Lynn, and one of Dawn. She picked up the photo of Dawn, and longingly touched her face through the glass. Dawn had only been in her life a short time, but oh how she had loved her daughter. She set the picture down and picked up the one of the Quartermaine kids.

Her finger traced Jason Quartermaine's wide smile. Jason had been the baby that she had never wanted to love, the child of her husband's mistress, that she had banned from her house for the first 16 months of his life. God if she could go back, she would change so much. She would welcome Jason in her house the day he was born, she would never have sent him away to boarding school, she would have made sure she saw him every day. If she had only known, that she would only have him in her life for 20 years she would have done so many things differently.

She set the photo down and reached into her bottom desk drawer and pulled out another photo. A photo of her other son Jason. She had stolen the photograph from Emily, it was one of him in his leather jacket, he had a half smile on his face, and was leaning against his bike. She knew Emily had taken the photograph because he had been relaxed. She knew that Emily probably knew she had taken it but she had never said anything about it, she just had a reprint made, and replaced the photo.

She didn't display it the way she longed to, because she knew it would only set Alan off, if he saw it. Alan still couldn't get past the fact that his son was dead. He looked at the Jason of today and hated that he was here and his son wasn't, she had felt that for a little while, but she had mourned Jason Quartermaine and learned to embrace Jason Morgan. She looked at this photo everyday, she thought about him everyday, just like she thought of all her children. She had been blessed with five of them through the years, and she still had three of them around.

A tear splashed on Jason's face and she quickly wiped it off the glass. If the cancer was back it would be harder to get rid of then last time, and the last time the fight had nearly killed her. She didn't want to die, mostly because she didn't want to lose her children, especially when they needed her so.

Emily was just becoming an adult and she was already finding out what a minefield adulthood really was.

A.J. was slowly drinking himself into an early grave, and if he wasn't doing that, he was living a life of bitterness and blame. Sometimes though she could reach him, she needed to be able to reach him.

And Jason, she sighed and traced the photo again, he did need her after all. _"Mom they won't tell me."_ That mom meant as much to her as the first time, any of her kids called her mom.

She wasn't going to give up her family up, not any of them. If the cancer wanted a fight, she'd give it one. She started to put the picture back in the drawer, then hesitated. It was time to fight, she turned and placed the photo of Jason Morgan on the cabinet next to the other pictures.

****

~Lounge~

When Zander entered the lounge he saw it was deserted other than Emily who was sitting in a chair closest to the door. Feeling a little uneasy he dropped onto the couch beside her. "Why did you want to stay here?"

"There are some things we need to talk about," Emily hedged. She suddenly realized that a part of her was afraid of her boyfriend. She was afraid of how he would react to the news.

"That sounds serious."

"It is," she straightened her coat in her lap and then began. "Zander you know that we haven't been getting along for quite awhile now. In fact all we seem to do is argue."

Warning sirens slammed into him, the little bitch was breaking up with him.

She kept her eyes on her hands so she missed it when he clenched his fists and glared at her. "We've grown apart and I think it's best if we stop seeing each other."

"But we love each other Emily, every couple has problems, we just need to work through them."

"It's more than that Zander," she looked at him then. "I don't love you."

"What?" He was trying desperately to hold onto his temper, but that about sent him over the edge.

"I'm sorry, but I need to be honest," she couldn't read his eyes, but his face looked calm. "Sometimes relationships don't work out."

"It was your friends, they finally got to you, or maybe your family," he snapped. "No wait it had to be the perfect older brother. You finally bought into their crap about me."

"No, it was my decision," she sighed and tried again. "Zander we haven't been happy."

"Speak for yourself I love you."

"Then why have you been sleeping with every girl you can?" Emily demanded feeling a little angry herself.

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear Emily," he tried to bluff his way around her accusation.

"How about what I see," She got angrily to her feet. "Can I believe it when I see you in bed with a blonde?"

He shot to his feet, "You were spying on me?"

"No, I just knocked on your door," she put her hands on her hips. "Here's a little tip for you Zander, if you want to have sex with someone and don't want anyone to know, make sure your door is closed."

Well he couldn't get out of that now, so he decided to try another way, the guilt that always worked with her. "Maybe I wouldn't have had that one single moment of weakness if my girlfriend, would actually sleep with me."

She took a step back from him and the anger in his eyes. "And that illustrates exactly why we are breaking up. If you really did care for me, you would never, ever demand for me to sleep with you. You wouldn't use sex as an ultimatum."

"Emily," he tried to backtrack. "Don't do this I love you."

"Save it Zander, were through," Emily picked up her coat and brushed by him heading for the elevator. She was actually kind of glad that he had went after her like that, it had made her angry enough that she had finally gotten to say some of the things she had wanted to say to him for months.

"Hold it," Zander grabbed her arm and jerked her around to face him. He had spent to many frustrating months setting this up for her to blow him out of the water now. "We are not over."

She tried to free her arm. "Let me go."

"Just let me talk to you, we can fix this," he reached past her and pressed the down button on the elevator.

"No Zander," Emily yanked hard trying to free her arm again. "I told you to let me go."

"Emily you're coming with me and we are working this out," Zander gripped her arm jerking her closer so her face was a few inches from his. "We just need to talk alone."

"No," Emily yelled and stomped on his foot the same time the elevator doors opened.

"You little bi…" Zander's words were stopped when Jason's fist connected with his jaw sending him to the ground.

Jason stepped the rest of the way off the elevator and moved to stand in between Emily and Zander when Zander started to get up.

"What is your problem?" Zander got to his feet rubbing on his jaw, god it felt like his teeth were going to fall out.

"You're my problem," Jason moved closer and lowered his voice. "I have a problem with people manhandling my sister. You will never touch her again, you will never talk to her again, you will never go near her again."

Jason never laid a hand on him, but Zander felt the threat of those icy words in his stomach, and a little fear entered his system, when he looked into the other mans cold blue eyes.

"I won't repeat myself Zander," Jason finished. "So you're leaving now."

Zander took a step back, he knew better than to try to talk to Emily now, and if he said anything to her brother while she was here, it would only make things worse. He looked at her for a minute longer then turned and headed for the stairs. But this wasn't over, not by a long shot.

Emily waited until he headed for the door before covering her eyes with her hands and groaning.

"Are you okay?" Jason turned around and took her arms lightly. "Did he hurt you?"

"No I'm fine," she dropped her hand. "Thanks."

"Is that the first time he was like that?" If it wasn't he would be finding Zander again and real soon.

She read the intent in his eyes and spoke up quickly. "Yes he's never laid a hand on me, this was the first and last time believe me."

He pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad to hear you say that. Because if he does it once, he'll do it again."

"I know," she hugged him back and fought back the tears. "He got like that because I broke up with him."

He pulled back to look at her. "Are you okay?"

"What? No I told you so?"

"Emily," he shook his head. "Are you okay?"

"I'm going to be," she was truly lucky to have him as her big brother.

"Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, I've had a little too much hospital today," she brushed a tear from her eye, pleased that it was the only one there.

"Come on," he took her hand and led her down the hall to an anxious Francis.

"I'm sorry Jason, I was calling you when you got off the elevator. I couldn't leave…"

"I know," Jason was glad to see Francis took his responsibility of guarding Rory seriously. He wasn't supposed to leave her unguarded and he hadn't.

"I'm sorry Ms. Quartermaine." And he really was, he had really wanted to go and pound that little thug Zander in the ground, but his first responsibility was to Rory. It was times like this that he hated what he did.

"I'm okay Francis," Emily smiled at him.

"You can make it up to her, by taking her home," Jason told him. "I'll be with Rory."

"Certainly," Francis stepped away from the door.

"Can you give us a minute?" Jason asked Emily.

"Sure," she gave him another hug. "Thanks for everything but especially for not telling me I told you so."

Jason smiled at her, but it faded when he turned to look at Francis after she left. "Keep an eye out for Zander, I don't want him near her. Is Sonny still looking after him?"

"A little, but Sonny has been getting tired of him. In fact I think the only reason he hasn't cut him loose is because of Emily," Francis admitted.

"I'll talk to Sonny then, but for tonight I don't want him near her."

"He won't be," he took a step away. "Before I called you, I called Stan, he was on his way up from the car, when you got off the elevator. I wasn't going to let him leave with her."

"I know," Jason jerked his head down the hall. "Now go."

****

~Kelly's~

Lucky frowned at his computer screen and the spreadsheet he had made there, comparing information he knew about Elizabeth, to information he was finding out about Rory. They both were allergic to raspberries, both had their appendix taken out, they had the same blood type, the same birthday, and according to the x-rays both of them in the past had broken their right arm. But there were a lot of things that were dissimilar as well and that concerned him.

He took another drink of his root beer, and tried to pretend that he wasn't craving a real beer. Rory had no tonsils, while Elizabeth did. Rory had a tattoo in the same spot as Elizabeth's birthmark, so maybe there was no birthmark. Rory had a surgical scar on her left knee, Elizabeth didn't. According to the x-rays that had been done, Rory had at one point several broken bones, in fact both her left arm and left leg had been broken, and she had a surgical pin in her left knee. Elizabeth had none of this.

If he was running an analysis he would have to say that he didn't have enough evidence to come to a conclusion yet, that the data he had collected was inconclusive. No matter what his gut might say, he needed more to convince others, and more importantly Rory that she was really Elizabeth.

His smirk turned into a grin, when he thought of a way he could get that proof. He set the root beer can down, stretched and popped his knuckles before putting his fingers on the keyboard. All he had to do was get around the next layer of security at the hospital. Cakewalk.

****

~Room 617~

"Hey," Rory spoke before she opened her eyes. "When did you get here?"

Jason straightened in the chair and took her hand. "A couple of hours ago."

She opened her eyes, fighting the unusual sleepiness the drugs gave her. "Did you find it?"

He pointed to the foot of the bed.

She pulled her hand free and rubbed at her eyes, before focusing on the table at the end of the bed. She smiled when she saw the photo sitting there. "Thank god."

He reached over and picked up the photo and handed it to her, knowing she would want to touch it. "I figured you would want to see it for yourself."

"You were right," she traced her parents faces. "I wish I could make you see how beautiful they were."

  
"I can see how beautiful they were. I see it every time I look at you. They had to be beautiful to make you."

Her eyes filled at that.

"Are you crying? Do you hurt?" Jason moved so he was sitting on the bed beside her. 

"No its just these damn drugs," she answered, it didn't have anything to do with what he said.

"Okay," he smiled at her. "Why don't you rest some more?"

"Why don't you kiss me?" she countered.

"I could do that," he leaned closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

"A little lower."

"Okay," he lowered his mouth and kissed her eyes closed softly, first her right eye and then her left.

"Keep going," her hand found his again, and she held on to it tightly.

"How's this?" he asked before pressing a kiss on her nose, "or this?" he moved to kiss her uninjured cheek, then placed a whisper kiss on her injured one.

"Getting warmer."

"Oh," he tilted her head up with his free hand, and placed a trail of kisses along her jawline. "Warmer?"

She moaned lightly, "Getting there." Between his kisses and the drugs she was on she was flying.

His mouth moved back and he nipped her chin before pulling back. "All done."

Her eyes flew open. "You little sh…"

His mouth swallowed the rest of her words, her eyes were open and locked on his, while his tongue gently outlined her lips. Her eyes drifted closed on a sigh, when he tilted his head and kissed her deeper, but at the same time, keeping the pressure on her lips light, making her want to beg for more. Her right arm went around his neck pulling him closer, when she tired of his teasing, her mouth opened under his, in an invitation for more intimacy. 

He had wanted to keep it light and simple between them, but feeling her mouth under his, spurred a reaction in him, one born out of fear of losing her. His tongue teased hers in long dizzyingly sweeps until it tormented her into moaning again.

She felt her mind cloud again but this time it was not because of the drugs, she was high on the heady feeling of touching him, and having him touch her. Then the desperation came, the desperation she normally felt when he touched her. The desperation because he was never quite close enough, she shifted again, and the groan of pain caught her off guard, stilling his mouth on hers.

"I'm sorry," he pulled away. The passion between them had taken over again, and he had forgotten that she was injured, in a hospital bed, and in pain. "Are you okay?"

"Yes and no," she admitted honestly. "My spirit, my mind, I think even my soul wants you right now, the only problem is my body."

He rubbed his finger over her swollen lips. "Then we wait, it's always been more than the physical between us."

"Will you hold me tonight?" The room was dark only the light from the hall was visible so it was easier to say those things to him that she normally stopped herself from saying. "I need you to hold me."

He shifted so he was beside her, on her non-injured side, and she moved so she was lying on top of him again, her head on his heart. Holding her brought the relief he was searching for, as her breath evened out and she slid into sleep, he gradually found himself relaxing. The tension he had been carrying with him, that caused his muscles to lock eased, the knot that had formed in his stomach when he'd first heard she was missing finally vanished. She was here in his arms, she was safe, and he was finally home.


	28. Whistle while you work

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Disclaimer: I don't own all the characters, just a few of the original ones I created.

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Feedback: Since I don't work for GH this is the only way I get paid, so PLEASE let me know what you think.

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What If…

Chapter 27

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~Room 617~

Jason stepped out into the hall and eased the door shut behind him slowly, trying not to wake Rory. It had been a long night for both of them. The severity of her head injury was enough that she'd had to be monitored all night long, so she'd no more then fall asleep and someone would wake her up.

His fight with the nursing staff and Tony Jones probably didn't help matters. They wanted him to leave, and as long as she was in the hospital so was he, whether the rules said he could be or not. He hadn't been surprised when Rory had chimed in on the nurse's side, and tried to get him to leave, but in the end he'd proven to be the 'stubborn ass' that she'd called him and won.

He scrubbed a hand over his face, then stretched, trying to work out the kinks from his neck and shoulders. Splitting time between a chair and the narrow bed hadn't been very comfortable.

"Looks like I arrived just in time." Sonny's voice drifted down the empty hallway.

Jason looked up and smiled in relief when he saw Sonny, Francis, and Johnny coming towards him, carrying coffee and a bag from Louie's Bakery. He took the coffee gratefully. "Thanks."

"No problem, I had a feeling you would need it." Sonny looked at the closed door. "How is she?"

"Cranky, argumentative, sleeping, in other words she's back to normal."

Johnny let out a snort, drawing the other's attention to him. "Uh…well, I'm glad she's okay."

Jason just sipped his coffee. "Anything else happen last night?" He asked Francis.

"Emily made a call on the way home, she asked Reginald?" He paused at the name, and then went on when Jason nodded. "To make sure her window was locked and to check her room. I couldn't hear what he said to that, but from what Emily said, I think he was making up another room for her to stay in last night."

"What happened to Emily?" Sonny demanded, looking from the guard to his friend. "And why didn't someone tell me sooner?"

"Sonny there's some things that you need to know." Jason broke off when an orderly walked by. "Francis can you stay here while I fill Sonny in?"

Francis nodded. "Is Spencer still to be kept out?"

"Yes, and if you don't recognize someone, check their badges and watch…" Jason stopped himself. "You know what to do better then I do, hell man you trained me. Sorry."

"No problem." Francis dismissed the apology with a wave of his hand. It was always difficult when it was personal. And judging from what he'd seen of Jason, and what Johnny had told him, Rory was as personal as Jason got.

"Come on you can fill me in while we eat." Sonny turned away.

"I don't eat breakfast." Jason reminded him as he fell into step beside him.

"Who said I brought you any?" Sonny replied, before pointing at a trailing Johnny. "Johnny's hungry aren't you?"

"Yeah boss."

"See he knows the value of a good meal to start the day off right. A good nutritious well-balanced breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Sonny looked inside the bag and then shook his head with a sigh. "Here's your cream filled nut roll."

"Thanks. What?" Johnny stalled when he saw the look he was getting from Sonny.

"Nutritious meal there Johnny." Jason commented with a grin.

"Some people don't have any taste." Johnny took the gooey roll from Sonny. "By the way Cal saw Zander last night. He was busy drowning his sorrows at the Rub-A-Dub club off Pico."

"That's good to know." Jason dropped into a chair.

"I'm going to deliver Francis his jelly doughnut. Okay?" Johnny had a feeling that Jason wanted some privacy while he spoke with Sonny.

Sonny nodded and watched him walk away. "What did Zander do to Emily?"

Jason took a sip of his coffee before answering. He knew how loyal Sonny was. Sonny had taught him what the word meant, and since Zander was the reason Sorel was on death row, he knew Sonny would be loyal to Zander.

"Jason?" Sonny prompted, it wasn't like Jason to hesitate.

"Emily broke up with him last night and he didn't take it well." Jason looked over at Sonny trying to gauge his reaction. "When I came across them he was trying to drag Emily on the elevator to get her alone, and wasn't listening when she was yelling at him to let her go."

"Is she okay?"

"I'm sure she has a bruise from where he grabbed her arm, but other then that she's okay physically. She said that was the first time he had ever gotten like that with her."

"Do you believe her?" Sonny held his breath while he waited for the answer. He knew from bitter personal experience that sometimes a woman would lie, when asked that question. Whether it was because they were ashamed, because they still loved the guy, or because they were afraid, it didn't really matter, they lied, and they should never have been put in that position in the first place. He hadn't seen Emily very much recently, and when he had seen her she was always trying to leave, and leave quickly. Looking back now her actions worried him.

"Yes I don't think Zander ever hurt her." Jason hesitated briefly then went on. "I think something else did happen. But she isn't ready to talk about it yet, at least not with me."

"That's good." Sonny said in relief.

"I know we owe him, but…"

"Jason I'm always going to be grateful to Zander for what he did. But my loyalty is with you and Emily." Sonny cut him off. "I'll make it plain to Zander that if he wants to stay in my favor, he has to stay away from Emily."

"Good." Jason rubbed at his neck and the knot there. One concern down, once to go. "Did you get the report yet?"

"No. But Benny said he should have a copy in an hour. Taggert should be getting his copy," Sonny paused to look at his watch. "Right about now."

****

~PCPD~

"Here you go LT." Whitey slapped a brown manila folder on the desk.

"You're late Whitey." Taggert picked up the file. "I was supposed to have this last night."

"Did you want it quick or did you want it right?" Whitey demanded.

"So what slowed you down?" Taggert kept the filed closed and waited for Whitey to start. If you baited him right, sometimes he would let things slip that he didn't put in the report. Normally those things were right, but Whitey was too arrogant to put something on paper unless he knew it would never be proven wrong.

"LT you always fail to grasp just how difficult my work is." Whitey perched on the rickety old chair in front of his desk.

"And what was so difficult this time?"

"Shoes, LT, shoes." Whitey picked up a pencil from the desk and began to roll it in his fingers.

"Why were they special?"

"We didn't have any of that design in our database, or in the State of New York's database, I had to run them through NCIC before I finally found a match." He began to tap the pencil on the edge of the desk, while he spoke. "Do you remember that murder a few years ago by the Dupont heir?"

"Yes." Taggert nodded, his eyes locked on the tapping pencil.

"Well these are the same brand, only a different year. Bruno Mogli shoes. I had to get into their Website to get the exact style. It's their latest the spring of 2001 release."

"So I take it the shoes are high dollar?" Taggert began to find a rhythm in Whitey's tapping, he knew that song.

"Let me put it this way LT. Your last year's salary would have bought you two pairs if they were on sale."

Taggert let out a whistle. "So that pretty much clears the local talent."

"I bet so. I haven't seen a track like that at any crime scene."

"What about the guy inside the shoe?" Taggert began to drum his fingers in rhythm to the phantom song. It was familiar and hauntingly annoying but he couldn't place it.

"Judging from the weight distribution and placement between steps," Whitey picked up the beat of his tapping. "The guy is at least 6'1" and between 200 – 220 lbs. The indentions under his right footprint go deeper then the left, indicating a slight limp. Also it's official he definitely helped the car over the cliff. He left distinct prints in front of the car, those prints were flexed like he was pushing something."

Taggert ran through his file on known associates of Corinthos or Morgan, for anyone that matched that description, then he did the same for Sorel's people but no one came to mind. He found himself humming and frowned at Whitey. "Anything else?"

"Yes the handkerchief we got off the girl was high dollar work. Irish off-white linen, the lettering on the initials EM were silk, it was hand sewn. We are talking a lot of money here.

Taggert tried to block the unnamed song that was now rolling around in his head, and opened the file. "What about what was inside the car. Has that been retrieved yet?"

"Yes. She kept a neat car, only CD's, and some notebooks in the interior. There were a couple of bags in the trunk. All of it is in the lab. But you know as well as I do that I need to have more probable cause then this before I can open the locked bags." Whitey began to hum as well. "The CD's are standard issue, there were some loose papers in the water, but there's no guarantee they came from her car. Her purse was clean as well, no contraband."

Taggert shrugged he knew it was a long shot to think, she might be carrying something in her car, but it had been worth a try. "I'll see about getting you into the bags."

"Okay." Whitey looked at him expectantly. The fluorescent lights hit his glasses at just the right angle that it made him look like he had no eyes behind the lenses.

"Was there something else?"

"Now LT you wouldn't be trying to stiff me would you?"

"Where's the report on the car?" Taggert countered flipping through the sparse report.

"I told you yesterday that we can't get to the car." Whitey snapped.

"There are some things that you can tell me. When you do, then you'll get the tickets." Taggert held back his smile.

Whitey got to his feet. "And when I get the tickets, I'll tell you about her cell phone."

"What?" Taggert shot to his feet, and looked after a departing Whitey.

"Ah Garcia, it's a great day isn't it?" Whitey asked the Detective before beginning to whistle and walking out of the station.

"Whitey." Taggert yelled after him.

Detective Alex Garcia looked from Whitey's retreating back, to a red-faced Taggert. "Did you try to outsmart Whitey again?"

Taggert glared at him and sat back down.

"Marcus when are you going to learn?" Garcia sat in the chair with a shake of his head.

"Drop it." Taggert began to drum his fingers on the desk, to the beat that was going on in his head. "Did you find out anything on Rory Nichols?"

"I got some information on her yes. I should say I got very little information on her." He stopped in surprise when Taggert began to hum.

Taggert saw the look and quickly stopped his humming, but the tapping remained. "Well I knew she didn't have a record. I ran a cursory check on her after I met her."

"It's more then that." Garcia began to tap his finger as well. He knew that song, it was almost on the tip of his tongue. "If I didn't know better, I would say Rory Nichols was a ghost."

****

~Room 617~

"So am I going to live?"

Monica jerked in surprise at the question and looked from the file she was studying to a now awake Rory. "Yes you will."

"That's good to know." Rory raised the bed so she was sitting up. She was relieved to note that doing so didn't make her dizzy. "But I think I'll save the dance of gratitude until I get out of here. Do you know when that might be?"

"Well judging from our tests and your vitals, it'll probably be today. I know Tony wants to do some more tests on you regarding the concussion before he releases you though."

Rory couldn't help but grimace at the thought of Dr. Idiot getting near her. "Can't you do it? I would really like to get out of here."

"No I'm afraid not. I'm not your doctor. I was just checking on your progress." Monica hung the chart back on the bed.

Rory frowned, a simple concussion shouldn't warrant a curiosity check. "Is this a teaching hospital?"

"No."

"Then why?" She stopped the questions when she caught sight of the blonde's nametag. Dr. Monica Quartermaine. Jason's mother, oh shit.

****

~Nurse's Station~

"It's true Gabriella. We have a walking, talking ghost in the hospital." Amy put her hand on her hip and ignored the phone when it began to ring.

"Amy what are you talking about now?" Gabriella was only half listening. Everyone only half-listened to Amy, it was much saner that way.

"Rory Nichols, she's a dead ringer for Elizabeth Webber."

Audrey Hardy paused in her approach to the desk when she heard the name.

"Who is Elizabeth Webber?"

"Oh that's right you weren't here then. Elizabeth was Audrey's granddaughter, she died two years ago," she paused and her brown eyes widened in surprise. "Actually it was two years ago this week."

Audrey stayed where she was, even though it had been two years it still hurt. She missed her granddaughter everyday, with the anniversary of her death a few days ago, the loss was especially fresh in her mind, and in her heart.

"And this Rory Nichols looks a little like her?"

"No she doesn't just look like her. If I didn't know any better I would swear that it is Elizabeth Webber lying in Room 617. I tell you it's just plain spooky." Now that she was through with her story, Amy decided to get back to work and answered the phone. "6th floor Nurse's station can I help you?"

Audrey walked past the desk and looked thoughtfully down the hall.

****

~Room 617~

"Aren't you a heart surgeon? Is there something wrong with me that I don't know about?" Rory decided to keep it medical for now.

"No." Monica spoke quickly trying to reassure her. "I was here when you were brought in. Jason asked me to look in on you," she shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to follow-up."

Rory couldn't help but feel awkward. She wasn't prepared to meet Jason's mother. But she saw the way Monica's eyes had softened when she had said Jason's name, so she made the effort. "I'm glad you were here for him. I know I was pretty out of it."

Monica perched on the corner of the bed. "He was very worried about you."

"So I hear." Rory stuck out her good hand. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You too." Monica took her hand. "I can't tell you how glad I am to meet you."

Rory drew back and looked at her in confusion.

"Sorry." Monica fiddled nervously with her necklace. "It's just I'm glad that he's not alone anymore. He was always so alone, and that worried me."

"Parental approval, I'm not used to that." Rory teased with a grin, trying to lighten the mood. "You might want to reserve judgment until you get to know me a little better."

Monica couldn't help but respond to the grin. "I think I can trust Jason's choices." She got to her feet, she didn't want to push too hard, too fast. "I need to get back to work, I hope I see you again, but not here."

"Trust me when I say, that I'm not in a hurry to return here." Rory watched her leave and let out a sigh. Monica was easy to read. It was obvious how much she loved Jason, and that was probably what made Jason pull away. Sometimes need could be overwhelming, especially to someone like Jason, she probably drove him crazy.

She sighed and dismissed Monica from her mind. On to more pressing problems, like seeing if she could walk without help. The few times she had stood up since the accident had made her head spin and she had clung to Jason for balance. It wasn't that she was against clinging to Jason, or didn't get dizzy around him at times, but she would still like to get back in control.

She pushed off the bed, keeping her hand on the mattress to steady herself. To her relief she didn't feel the strange vertigo sensation that had plagued her last night. She made her way to the bathroom and flipped on the light. "Christ."

"Problems shorty?" Carly asked from the doorway.

Rory kept her eyes on her reflection in the mirror. "Are you sure I didn't die yesterday? Because this look sure isn't healthy."

Carly stepped into the small room and studied Rory's face in the mirror. "You know I really can't tell the difference."

"Cute Blondie, I bet you're the type that goes around and kicks puppies too." Rory glared at her.

"You know it."

Rory's laughter filled the small room and Carly joined in. "You aren't so bad."

"Please don't insult me." Carly warned her. "Now act right or no surprise."

"Surprises are good." Rory turned away from the mirror and studied her. "You know Carly belts that wide went out in the 70's."

"There you go. Much better." Carly reached behind her and picked up a bag. "If anyone can pull off, white with polka dots it's you, but the combination is glaring on the eyes, so I brought you some clothes."

"Ah thanks Blondie." Rory said sweetly, reaching for the bag.

"Don't get sappy on me shorty. I still don't like you." Carly shot back. "I just don't want to look in your frightful face anymore, so I brought you some makeup too."

"I hope it's not Deception makeup, their quality sucks."

****

~Lounge~

"Benny brought the file you wanted to the warehouse yesterday." Sonny spoke after he finished the last of the blueberry muffin.

Jason looked at him blankly.

"The police report on Elizabeth Webber." Sonny explained, wiping his hands on a napkin. "You looking for something in particular?"

"I don't know." Jason shrugged. "Lucky pulled a head trip on Rory the other day. I just wanted some details."

"With Lucky, you and Rory all having deliberate accidents at the same time, you think there's a connection?"

Jason was quiet while he thought about it, ever since Sonny had told him that he thought Rory had been the target all along, he had thought of little else. "I don't know how it could be. Rory knows who she is. So no matter what Lucky says or does, it won't work."

"But?" Sonny prompted he knew there had to be more.

"But Lucky knew some things about Rory that he shouldn't have known and I don't like that." Jason admitted darkly.

"Yesterday, when Lucky confronted you, he let something slip that stayed with me. He knew you only had a single lock on your room at Jake's. If he got in, could that explain the knowledge?"

"Yeah, some of it." If Lucky had gotten in, it was another reason that moving to the penthouse would be the best thing for Rory.

"So do you think these accidents could be related?"

"Sonny." Benny interrupted them before Jason could answer.

"What are you doing here?" Sonny looked up in surprise. "Did we have a meeting?"

"No." Benny looked around before sitting down beside Jason. "We got a problem."

"What happened?"

"Three of our couriers were hit last night."

"Damn." Sonny leaned closer the anger showing in his eyes. "Are they dead?"

"Two are, the other one is alive for now, but its doesn't look good." Benny broke off when a nurse walked by.

"I thought it's been quiet here." Jason addressed both of them.

"It has been. There hasn't been so much as a rumor." Benny answered. "There's more though and I don't like it. Two of the couriers weren't carrying, they were on the way to their pickup, anyone watching them would have known that. Also the method of attack was unusual."

"How do you mean?" Sonny hated to lose people, and to lose two in one night wasn't going to be tolerated.

"No guns, the only wound on any of the guys is a single puncture wound here," he raised his hand and pointed to a spot right below his ear. "There was very little blood, Doctor Wilson says it was probably done with a stiletto type knife, one jab and they were down. It looks like they were all hit by the same guy."

"What happened with the third guy then?"

"He must have jerked at the last second, the puncture isn't as deep, he's also the only one with defensive wounds. But Doc says he probably won't last long." Benny got to his feet. "We don't have much time."

"Yeah I want to see him, and then deal with the others." Sonny commented but remained seated.

Jason looked at his friend then at Benny. "Give me a minute." He headed down the hall to Johnny and Francis. Johnny took one look at his face and headed for Sonny.

"Is there a problem?" Francis asked.

"Yeah." He scrubbed his face then looked through the window in the door, and frowned when he saw the empty bed.

"Carly's here. She brought Rory some clothes." Francis explained.

"Okay." Jason stepped back from the door. "I need to leave for awhile. Keep your eyes open. As long as Carly's here, Pete is here, I want you both on the door."

Francis nodded. "Is it bad?"

"Possibly." Jason opened the door far enough to pull his jacket off the door handle on the other side, then shut it quietly. "Keep your eyes open Francis." He said in warning then headed towards the elevator and a waiting Sonny.

****

~Room 617~

"Hello?" Rory called when she walked out the bathroom, but there was no one in the room. She headed towards the bed, she actually felt halfway human again. It was so nice to be in clothes that actually closed in the back. She picked up the phone when it started to ring. "Hello."

__

"Is this Rory?"

"Yes. Who is this?" She couldn't place the woman's voice.

__

"This is Alexis Davis-Jacks, we met briefly yesterday."

"I remember." Rory settled back on the bed, she was still too weak to stand for a long time.

__

"Lieutenant Taggert called and requested an interview with you." Alexis thumbed through some papers on her desk. "Your doctor cleared it, but I wanted to see if you were up to it. If not I can stall him."

Rory's eye fell on the door and she saw Jason's jacket was gone. "I'd rather get it over with sooner rather then later. Can you set it up right away?"

__

"Yes, I'll meet with you in a half an hour, then we'll let Taggert in."

"Okay I'll see you then." With any luck she could have Taggert out of here before Jason returned from wherever he was. "Goodbye Alexis." She couldn't help but notice Carly's eye roll. "Problem?"

"Not as long as I don't have to talk to Alexis." Carly grumbled.

"You two don't get along?"

"Who could get along with a bony assed know it all?" Carly demanded.

Rory smirked. "So I take it she's beautiful and a friend of Sonny's."

"She is not beautiful." Carly shrieked.

Rory could all but smell the jealousy in the air. "If you say so Blondie."

****

~GH Entrance~

"Dara give me something to work with here." Taggert argued into the cell. "She is traveling with a known criminal, there is no telling what information she might have in those bags."

__

"Marcus do I have to remind you that Jason Morgan hasn't been convicted of anything?" Dara shifted her briefcase and punched the elevator call button. "Look I'd like to help you, I really would, but your not giving me enough facts that would justify a warrant to open those bags."

"I told you that this was not an accident. As such I should be able to use all avenues available to me, that includes what is in the victims possession at the time of the attack." Taggert began to drum his fingers on the handrail. He still hadn't placed the song Whitey had been humming, but he hadn't been able to get it out of his head either.

__

"I know, but whatever happened to the car that made her lose control like that, did not originate from the locked trunk where the bags were kept. You don't have enough probable cause. For you to open her bags, you'll need her permission."

"Somehow I doubt that I'll get that." Taggert narrowed his eyes and decided to hit below the belt. "Alexis Davis is her attorney. Are you afraid that you'll get beat by her again?"

__

"Alexis Davis has nothing to do with this." Dara snapped loudly into the phone, before taking a breath and going on in her normal voice. "If you want to know what the problem is, it's you Marcus. You have gone after Corinthos and Morgan for so many years now, and your methods have been borderline illegal. So now we have to do everything strictly by the book. With all the i's dotted, and the t's crossed, and because of that, I can't give you any leeway here."

"It's nice to know that the DA's office let's itself be dictated to by the criminals." Taggert sniped before hanging up.

****

~Quartermaine's~

Emily had her eye on her watch, she had never noticed how slowly the second hand actually moved on the dial before now. She had to wait for three minutes before she knew how badly her life was going to change. It felt like three years. With a groan she walked out of the bathroom, away from the waiting stick, and into the other room.

It was strange being in this room, it had once belonged to Jason Quartermaine. Before Jason had left the first time he had trashed it. She could still remember seeing the anger on his face as he threw trophies and clothes that had once been Jason Quartermaine's pride and joy, out of the window. The second time he had left, he hadn't destroyed anything, instead he had driven everyone in the house crazy with his antics. First by bouncing a tennis ball off of his walls, and then by dribbling a basketball on the floor for over 8 hours straight. It was the first time she had ever seen her Grandfather beaten. And Jason had definitely beaten him. He had been able to walk away from the Quartermaine's on his own terms.

She looked around the room, the trophies were back on the dresser, his textbooks that were now over five years old sat on the desk, but there wasn't a speck of dirt on them. Monica had repaired his room after Jason had left. It had become a shrine to her son Jason Quartermaine. For months after he left, Monica had retreated into this room and cried for the loss of her son. Eventually Monica had stopped coming in here, but Grandfather had ordered that the room be maintained and never changed.

It was strange being in here, but it was also nice. Maybe it was because she had only known Jason Quartermaine for less then a year before she had lost him, but it was easy for her to separate the two Jason's in her head and in her heart. Jason Quartermaine was perfect. He was golden in pretty much everything he did. Next to Lila he was the family peacemaker, and he had always tried to protect her, and teach her how not to fall into the Quartermaine way of doing things.

Jason Morgan tried to protect her too, but he didn't try to teach her things. He was just there for her if she fell, which she did pretty often, but he never complained. Jason Quartermaine had loved her and accepted her immediately, but Jason Morgan hadn't. So when he finally did, it meant that much more to her, because she knew she was one of the few people that he had let in. By sleeping in this room last night she had managed to feel close to both of her brothers named Jason, and that had meant so much to her.

Emily glanced at her watch again and realized that it was time. Why had she ever thought that time moved slowly? It was too soon, she wasn't ready to find out if she was pregnant. Somehow she found herself in the bathroom, she closed her eyes and said a prayer then she picked up the stick.

****

~Room 617~

"So will the fact that I can't remember yesterday help or hurt me?" Rory asked Alexis.

"With Taggert there is no telling, but I wouldn't worry about it." Alexis pulled the glasses from her face and studied her. She looked a lot better then she had last night, but she was still awfully pale below her bruises. The eyes though were sharp, and she doubted that Rory missed much, with them. "Taggert has a blind spot when it comes to Jason and Sonny."

"I noticed that. _Anger Boy." _Rory mimicked Taggert. "The idiot wanted me to press charges against Jason the other day."

"What?" Alexis still had a smile on her face from Rory's surprisingly accurate imitation of Taggert.

"I met him on the docks, Jason and I were teasing each other, and he thought Jason was trying to kill me. The way he treats Jason…" Rory felt herself getting mad and tried to battle it back. "Anyway if I ever decide to become a criminal I am definitely moving here."

"I imagine you told Taggert that same thing didn't you?" Alexis' read on Rory, was that she was a lot like Carly in that she would say anything. She would have to wait and see if Rory had the control not to say things though. Carly didn't have the ability to stop herself, she only hoped Rory did.

"I did, but I doubt he heard me, he was too busy having a staring contest with Jason." Rory fiddled with the ID bracelet on her wrist. "So with him wanting to see me, does that mean it wasn't an accident?"

"I don't know. It could be follow-up, as far as I know, no one was there but you." Alexis put her glasses back on and pulled a notebook from her bag. "I will get the police report eventually, especially if it wasn't an accident." She heard a knock on the door and turned to Rory. "Remember what I said, follow my lead."

"Fine as long as you lead quickly, I want him gone before Jason gets back."

Alexis nodded and crossed to the door. "Lieutenant Taggert you're right on time."

Taggert spared her a nod then moved past her into the room. He was pleased to note that Rory did look a lot better then she had last night. "Rory, I'm glad to hear you're going to be okay."

"Really?" Rory cocked her head to the side and closed her expression off, like she had seen Jason do to him. "I thought you were disappointed I wasn't in a body bag. That is what you told Jason wasn't it?"

"You did what?" Alexis turned on him quickly.

Taggert looked from her to Rory, and knew that this was going to be a long interview.

****

~Clinic~

"He is alert, and he can understand what is happening around him and too him. He can't speak though." Doctor Wilson kept his voice low as he updated Sonny and Jason. "Whatever was used on him severed his vocal chords, and also the membranes that surround the brain. He's bleeding to death inside his head, there's no way we can stop it."

"Could they save him if we took him to a hospital?" Sonny asked, because he would take him there in a heartbeat if it would save him.

"If it could he would already be there." Doc replied. "You can talk to him now, I sent Adam for his sister, hopefully she'll get here in time."

"Thanks doc." Jason said in dismissal. "You want me to question him?"

"No, he's mine." Sonny moved closer to the bed, his eyes drawn to the bloody bandage on his neck. "Hey Manny."

Manny opened his eyes at the voice, and Sonny could read the fear in the dark eyes, and he reached out and took his hand. "You're not alone."

Manny blinked, his lips moved but nothing came out.

"Take it easy. I want you to know, that I will take care of your sister. She won't need for anything." Sonny vowed.

Manny managed a smile at that, then his face contorted in pain.

Jason moved to the other side. "Hey Manny, can I ask you some questions?"

Manny focused on him.

"Why don't you blink once for yes, once for no. Okay?"

Manny blinked.

"Did you see who did this to you?'

Blink

"Did you recognize them?"

Blink. Blink.

"Was there more then one?"

Blink. Blink.

"Tall like Francis?"

Blink. Blink.

"How about short like me?" Sonny asked.

Blink. Blink, he gestured towards Jason.

"My height?"

Blink

"White?"

Blink

"Blonde?"

Blink. Blink, he gestured towards Sonny.

"Black hair?"

Blink

Jason tried to think of other simple questions he could ask, that would give them the information they would need.

"Did he dress like me or like Jason?" Sonny asked.

Manny pointed to Sonny.

"Brown eyes?"

Blink

Sonny could see that Manny was fading, and he didn't want him to waste his last few minutes on earth thinking about the bastard who had killed him. He looked over at Jason and jerked his head to the door.

Jason nodded and headed for the door, at the same time it opened. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Adam come into the room, followed by a nun. He moved out of her way, as she blew by him and joined Sonny by the table.

Sonny saw her, and realized what Manny's smile had been about, his sister wouldn't need his protection or his help. He watched her whisper to Manny, and whatever she said must have comforted him, because he managed to smile again. He held his hand, the sister held his other, and together they watched Manny take his last breath.

****

~Room 617~

"Like my client has told you repeatedly, she doesn't remember what happened. I'm sure by now you have gotten a complete rundown on her injuries, so you should be well aware that there is a good chance that she will never remember what happened yesterday. Your inability to grasp this concept leads me to believe that you have some medical condition of your own that needs figuring out."

Rory was glad that Taggert was watching Alexis at that point. She had been doing her Jason imitation, and as such was keeping her answers to one word, with no emotion on her face. But that little zinger from Alexis made her grin. She quickly schooled her features when Taggert looked at her again.

"I just have a few more questions." Taggert ignored the dart and began to tap on his notepad, the song was back in his head. 

"Please hurry Lieutenant, if you're beginning to try my patience I can only imagine what you are doing to Rory's."

"Rory do you have any enemies?"

She was quiet while she thought about that, she had a lot of enemies, but were they psycho enough to kill her that was the question. "No one's coming to mind."

"What about threats, have you received any anonymous phone calls, e-mails or letters, recently?"

"No." She tried to block the tapping from her mind. The song was familiar and she was starting to respond to it, but Jason wouldn't respond to things like that, and at the moment she was Jason.

"What about Jason Morgan?"

"What does he have to do with this?" Alexis interrupted.

"She is his girlfriend, she might be in the position of knowing if someone wanted to hurt him, and went after her instead."

"She's not a mind reader Taggert." Alexis continued to glare at him, that damn tapping was driving her nuts, she could almost find the rhythm to it. "I'm assuming from your questions that this was not an accident. Is that correct?"

Rory drummed her fingers on the bed while she waited for his reply. What the hell was that song, she began to hum under her breath trying to place it.

"I never said that counselor, the preliminary only crossed my desk an hour ago." Taggert hedged.

"But you do know what they're calling the scene." Alexis pressed. "Is it an accident site, or a crime site?"

"It has been defined as a crime scene site."

Rory was only half listening, she already knew that it wasn't an accident, so hearing him hem and haw about it did nothing for her. But that song he was tapping was so close, she could almost picture the video in her head.

"When will it be released so she can get her things?"

"I wanted to ask her about that." Taggert took a breath and went on. "We would like permission to look in her bags, there might be something in them that sheds light on what happened."

"Why? Did the accident begin in the trunk?" Alexis asked then went on quickly. "I'm assuming that they are locked, so please tell me how a locked bag can shed light on what happened to force her over a cliff? You aren't trying to fish again are you Taggert?"

Taggert ignored her and focused on Rory, and noticed she was tapping her fingers on the mattress. That made him aware that he was still tapping his, and he quickly stopped himself. "Do I have your permission?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"She doesn't have to tell you why." Alexis interjected again. She had discovered that Rory did have control over what she would say and wouldn't say. She was flustering Taggert the way Jason and Sonny did, and it was amusing to watch. "I would like them released as soon as possible, and also to receive a copy of the accident report."

"Well we both know, that I don't have to provide that to you." Taggert shot back.

Was it Warrior by Scandal? No that wasn't it, Rory shook her head. What was that song?

"I am her attorney and we will need a copy of the report for insurance purposes." Alexis reminded him sweetly. "So I'll expect that report."

"You'll get a copy of the final, completed report, so far the only reports are preliminary and we are not required to hand them over to you." It was nice to score any sort of victory off of Alexis.

"Mickey." Rory cried out suddenly, causing both of them to look at her.

"Who is Mickey?" Taggert asked. "Is that who could have done this to you?"

"No," Rory laughed. "That's the name of the song you have been annoying us with since you got here." She saw his blank look and went on. "You know. _Oh Mickey what a pity you don't understand, you take me by the heart, when you take me by the hand."_

Alexis smothered a laugh at Taggert's face when Rory sang the lyrics to him. They did fit the song he had been humming and tapping.

Taggert shuffled his feet and began to close his notebook. "We're done here."

"I would have never picked you for early 80's bubblegum music." Rory shook her head. "Was it the cheerleader's uniform she wore in the video that made you a fan?"

This time Alexis couldn't stop the laugh.

Taggert glared at her and headed for the door. "I'll be in touch if I have any more questions." He didn't even bother to turn around for their response, but the laughter followed him out of the room. Goddamn Whitey.

Alexis wiped the tears from her eyes, that had been hilarious. "Well I think you made an impression that Taggert won't soon forget."

"Hey I was good until then, besides it got him out of here." Rory leaned back on the pillow. "So when can I get my stuff? At the very least I need my purse, if it survived."

"I'll work on that, hopefully I can clear them by the end of the day." Alexis picked up her briefcase and extended her hand. "It's been nice meeting you."

"You too, I'm at Jake's so send me the bill there."

Alexis paused at the door. "Don't worry about that, Jason said he'd pay."

She was gone before Rory had a chance to correct her. Jason would not be paying for her.

"Finally," a pretty dark haired nurse walked into the room. "I was afraid your meeting was going to last forever."

Rory eyed the basket the nurse was carrying suspiciously, it looked like there was needles in there. "I can call them back."

Gabriella pulled on her gloves. "Don't worry I'll be gentle."

"What exactly are you going to be gentle with me about?" Rory demanded, when she saw the nurse pull some plastic tubing from her basket.

"I need some blood." Gabriella tied the plastic band around her arm, then tapped on her skin checking for a vein.

"Peachy, more needles." Rory turned her head away. "If it gets me out of here, you can have a pint."

"This place is a bit dead isn't it?"

"Choice description." Rory felt the needle enter her skin but didn't react.

"There we go." Gabriella closed the vial off, put it in her basket and put a Band-Aid on Rory, before checking her chart again. She pulled out a pair of tweezers and a glass slide.

Rory had her eyes closed when she felt a yank on her arm. "Hey." She looked down at her arm but the nurse had already moved. "What did you do?"

"I need some tissue for a…"

"I hear you're impatient to leave." Tony Jones entered the room, cutting off the nurse.

"Never more so then right now." Rory commented as he moved closer. "You inspire me to get the hell out of here."

****

~Elevator~

Emily drummed her fingers on the elevator panel at the back of the car. There were far to many people in this car, but thank god her parents weren't there. She was skipping school again, and she knew she wouldn't get away with that again. But there was no way she would be able to concentrate on school, not now.

"Excuse me." No one moved. "I said excuse me." She snapped, and pushed her way off of the elevator. She saw Francis standing down the hall, and tried to walk towards him casually, but when he turned to look at her fast approach, she knew she had failed. "Hi Francis."

"Are you okay Ms. Quartermaine?" Francis looked past her to see if someone was following her.

"I'm fine." She pointed to the door. "Is Rory still here?"

"Yes, the doctor just left." Francis was reaching for the door handle, but she beat him to it, and hurried in the room, closing the door in his face.

Francis shook his head, he was so glad that he only had brothers.

"Rory?" Emily cried when she saw the room was empty. "Where are you?"

"Chill Emily, I'm right here." Rory walked out of the bathroom, pulling a brush carefully through her hair.

"Thank god."

"You took the test." Rory studied her new friend. "What was the result?"

"You know it's a simple test. I bought the most accurate one, but the easiest one I could find." Emily explained pacing around the room. "A plus sign appears if your pregnant, a minus sign if your not. It's that simple, how could you mess it up?"

"So what did you get?" Rory perched on the bed.

"A squiggly." Emily wailed and collapsed in the chair.

"A what?"

"It's a squiggly line, it's not a plus or a minus, it weaves." Emily buried her face in her hands. "What am I going to do?"

"Well…" Rory stopped herself before she started to laugh, she cleared her throat and tried again. "I think."

Emily looked up when she heard the snort. "You're laughing? My life may be over and you're laughing?"

"I'm sorry Em." Rory gasped. "But a squiggly?"

"That's what it was." Emily tried to hold onto her outrage, but a giggle was forming in the back of her throat.

"What exactly does a squiggly look like?"

Emily burst out laughing at that, and Rory joined her.

"Laughter is the best medicine." Nurse Melissa Bedford commented, when she opened the door, and pushed a wheelchair through it.

Emily wiped at her tears and tried to stop laughing. "Yes it is."

"I take it those are my wheels to freedom?" Rory asked picking up the bag Carly had brought her, she had wrapped her parents photo in there carefully, but other then that it was empty, the clothes she had been wearing were now lining the trashcan.

"Yes, Dr. Jones says you're out of here."

Rory crossed to the wheelchair and got in. "Well let's leave before he turns into an idiot again and changes his mind."

Francis stepped back in surprise when Rory was wheeled out with Emily trailing her. He figured she wouldn't leave without Jason. He picked up his coat from a chair and trailed them down the hall.

Rory's eyes caught him when she left the room, but she didn't pay him any attention until he began to follow them. She looked back at him.

"That's Francis," Emily whispered. "I used to have such a crush on him. I would have done anything for him to be my guard. But he never was."

"Guard?" Rory asked softly.

"Yeah, the last time I had a guard was right before Sorel's trial, then I had Max, he was pretty cute too. But you never forget your first out of the world crush, and for me that was Francis." Emily sighed and looked back at him, she saw him pull a phone from his pocket and glared at him until he put it away.

"Emily I don't have any money could I borrow some until tomorrow?" Rory asked quietly.

"Sure." Emily dug in her bag and pulled out a twenty.

Rory managed to grab it and tuck it away before Francis joined them on the elevator. She smiled benignly up at him, but didn't say a word. If Jason put a guard on her without telling her, she shook her head, no he wouldn't do that to her.

"Thanks Melissa." Rory said when the reached the door. She got to her feet, and gripped the bag with her good hand.

"Nice to meet you Rory." Melissa backed the wheelchair up and ran into Francis. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Francis tried to step around her, and out the door, but a group of people was entering the building at the same time, and he had to wait for them to come through. He tried to keep an eye on Rory and Emily outside, but the light reflecting on the door made it difficult for him to see.

Finally he stepped through the door, and his heart stopped when he saw Emily standing on the curb with Rory nowhere in sight. "Where is she?"

"She got a cab." Emily turned to look at him, and could read the anger on his face. Even angry he was cute. "I tried to stop her, but she was gone."

Francis ran a hand through his hair, he was so dead.

****

~Jake's~

"Rory are you okay? I heard you had an accident." Jake called when she saw her walk into the bar.

"I'll live, the reports of my demise were premature." Rory smiled at her, but kept walking to the stairs.

"Did the guys forget something? Is that why your back?"

Jake's question stopped her in her tracks. "What do you mean forget something?"

"Some of the guys, came in yesterday and took all of your stuff out. Jason sent the key and said you wouldn't be staying here anymore." Jake could tell by the look on her face that this was news to Rory. Damn Jason was in for it.

"Did he happen to mention where I was going to be living?"

Jake winced at the tone, yep Jason was in for it. "Probably his penthouse. Why don't you call him sweetie?"

"No. Thanks Jake." Rory headed back for the door. Anger was slowly taking the place of the aches and pains in her body. That slow anger turned to full burn when she opened the door and spotted a black stretch limo pulling into the lot. She stayed by the door and waited.

Johnny appeared first, then Sonny, Jason remained absent.

"Rory." Sonny crossed to her. "You left the hospital before we could get there. I'm sorry you came here." He held out a hand to his car. "You don't even have a coat, let's get out of here. You must be freezing."

Rory looked at him for a long minute, before moving past him towards the open car door, that Johnny was standing by.

Sonny got in the car beside her. "Max turn the heat up." He looked at her, she still seemed so pale, fragile. "I wish you would have waited for Francis, he could have saved you a trip."

Rory remained quiet.

"I got a hold of Jason, he'll meet us at the penthouse, we didn't think you would get released this soon, or he would have been at the hospital." He wondered why she wasn't talking. It was true that he didn't know her that well, but he did know that her being quiet wasn't a good thing. His eyes met Johnny's and he shrugged. "Are you warm enough?'

Rory nodded and kept her focus on the window. Sonny gave up trying, and the rest of the ride to the penthouse was quiet.

Rory stepped off the elevator and looked towards the left, and saw a frowning Francis looking at her, from his post by the door. She smiled slightly at him then followed Sonny into the room.

Her silence was unnerving. "This was Jason's place. The furniture is his." Sonny began to speak. "Alexis used to live here after Jason, but when she remarried she took her stuff with her. So we got Jason's old stuff out of storage. I'm sure he'll let you change anything you don't like."

She walked farther into the room, and saw the white couch set, she knew it would be comfortable, but she didn't stop. The room was completely decorated, but there was little color in the room.

"The electronics are a few years old, but they can be replaced easily enough." Finally fed up with her silence Sonny asked her something. "Rory are you okay?"

"I'm fine Sonny." She turned to face him. "But I think I'll lie down for a bit, I'm a little tired."

Sonny smiled in relief, of course she was tired. "The master bedroom is at the top of the stairs first door on the left."

"Thank you." She began to head up the stairs. She just needed some time alone to figure out why Jason had pulled the rug out from under her without any warning. She just needed some time to get past the worst of the hurt and anger before she saw him.

"Thanks Francis." Jason said when he walked through the door, his eyes sweeping the room for Rory. He had broken every speed limit he'd seen trying to beat her here, but in the end he had been too late. He saw her on the stairs. "Rory." He crossed over to her.

"I'm going to go rest now." Rory avoided his eye, just walk away, just walk away, the mantra reverberated in her head.

"Are you okay?" He reached out to touch her arm, but she shifted so her arm in the sling was closest to him and he dropped his hand. "Rory?"

Rory turned on him then and smiled bitterly. "Jason the next time you want to fit me for a fucking leash ask me first." She snapped then turned away and headed up the stairs.

"Rory." He called after her, and was heading up the stairs, when he heard a door slam. "Oh man."


	29. Whatcho talking about Mr. D?

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Disclaimer: The usual blather

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Feedback: How about this, let me know if anyone wants me to keep posting this here, or if I am only taking up space.

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What If…

Chapter 28

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~Penthouse 3~

"Ouch." Sonny murmured.

Jason turned around and shot him a glare. "Did she say anything to you?"

"She didn't say a word the whole time. By the time I found her at Jake's she had already been inside, I tried to get her to talk, but she wouldn't. Finally she said she was tired and wanted to rest." Sonny explained. "And then you walked in."

"Damn." Jason rubbed at the tension at the back of his neck. He had seen the hurt in her eyes, and that bothered him more then the anger that was there too. He knew not telling her what was going on was going to be a mistake. "I should have talked to her."

"When Jason? It's not like there was a lot of time for you to discuss things."

"I know that but I also knew I needed to tell her about the changes and I didn't. I just wanted a little more time. Sometimes I have no clue how she will react to things so I decided to wait." He looked back up the stairs. "And now she feels like she was blindsided and believe me she doesn't like that feeling."

"So go talk to her now, we have some time before we need to meet Benny." Sonny prodded looking at his watch.

Jason was turning to head up the stairs when the penthouse door opened and Adam walked in the room. "The car you wanted is downstairs." He held out a set of keys. "It's on parking level 4."

"Thanks." Jason took the keys and headed up the stairs. "I'll be right back."

"Good luck." Sonny called cheerily.

"Is there a problem?" Adam asked in concern.

"You're not married or involved are you Adam?" Sonny asked moving towards the door.

"No Mr. Corinthos." Adam stepped back and let him pass.

"Then you wouldn't understand." He moved over to his own door. "We need to leave in ten minutes Johnny. You'll have to get Jason then."

Johnny winced slightly. "Okay boss." He waited until the door closed before turning to focus on Francis who was leaning against the wall across the wall. "So Francis, you want to do me a favor?"

****

~Bedroom~

Rory stared around the spacious room in disbelief. Before she had been with Jason bedrooms this size had been nothing but images on a TV screen. Normally when they traveled they went middle of the road, and that suited her fine. She didn't need the fancy stuff that her Uncle seemed to thrive on. But there had been times, like in Puerto Rico that they had stayed in suites, and the opulence those large rooms afforded could become addicting. 

She shook her head and hardened her heart to the King sized bed with the blue comforter, and throw pillows that looked as inviting as the clear blue of a lake on a warm summer's day. The deep plush, cream carpeting didn't do anything for her, neither did the Armoire and dresser set, that would have made any antique dealer weep. She ignored the fireplace and then stepped up a small step that led to the sitting room area. Her eye fell longingly on the window seat and its three-sided window that it looked out of. Just because she had always wanted a window seat, didn't mean she was happy to find one in a place she'd had no intention of staying in. In a place that she had been shanghaied too. 

The anger was coming back and she looked around the room again, dismissing the beautiful furniture in favor of the hard realization that none of her bags were in the room. With trepidation she crossed to one of the two double-doored closets in the room and opened it. As she had feared her meager clothing selection took up a small amount in the expansive walk-in closet. She moved out of the closet when she heard the main door open behind her.

Jason stayed near the door and watched her when she came out of the closet. The temper was still evident in her eyes and in her face. She didn't get really mad at him very often. They argued that was true, but Rory loved to argue, so it wasn't that bad. What was different was when they fought. No matter how rare of an occasion it was, it always ripped him. When they fought it was brutal, mostly because he hated the feelings fighting with her brought out in him. He hated to hurt her, and yet sometimes they couldn't help it. "I know your upset and you have a right to be."

"Gee thanks for the permission." She jeered lightly.

"Don't be like this." 

"What am I supposed to be like Jason?" Rory demanded. "Yesterday I woke up in a room over a bar, and was happy there. Now look at me. I've been put up in some fancy penthouse without you even asking me if I wanted to be here."

"There wasn't time to talk." Jason hedged. "You were gone before I could get back to the hospital."

"And you were gone when I woke up." She tossed back. "Look Jason I'm not stupid so don't treat me like I am."

"I have never treated you like you were stupid." Jason responded hotly moving further into the room.

"You didn't until right now. I may not remember much of yesterday, but I can remember the day before that." She moved closer until she could see his eyes clearly. "You had been hinting about moving into a bigger place for a couple of days now." She saw the guilt flash in his eyes and knew she was right. "Do you deny it?"

"No. I did want to move into the penthouse." Jason admitted.

"And you couldn't ask? You had to wait until I was flat on back and couldn't say anything?"

"No." Irritated at her dismissal of her accident he shot back. "I made a decision, what I felt was the best decision, for your safety."

"Bullshit." She snorted. "Do you really think I believe that? That my accident is the reason we're suddenly in this place?" She poked him in the chest. "Don't insult me like that."

"I'm not insulting you." Jason pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. This wasn't going well.

"Jason you know me better then I know myself at times. If you had come to me and asked me to move into the penthouse because Sonny wanted you too or because you needed too, what would I have said?" She caught his arm with her good hand when he tried to pull away. "What would I have said?"

"You would have moved in without a question." Jason admitted quietly.

"Right," hurt she dropped her hand. "You knew that and you chose not to ask me. Instead you waited for a time when I couldn't say no and moved me. And just now you tried to pass it off that the only reason we moved was because of the accident, and that's how you treated me like I was stupid."

Her words cut deep because they were true. "Rory…"

"Stop Jason, I'm too tired to fight with you right now, or to go into what else you neglected to tell me." Rory backed away when he reached for her. "Somewhere along the line you decided to change the rules in our relationship. I need to see if I can live with that. Because despite what you may be thinking I do have a say in our relationship."

Stung he could only stare at her for a long minute. "What do you mean by that?"

"Jason." Johnny's voice drifted up the stairs. "I'm sorry but we need to go."

Rory turned and headed for the window. "You better go."

"Not until you tell me what you meant by that." Jason followed her to the window but she didn't turn around.

"Jason." The call came again.

"In a minute Johnny." Jason yelled back in exasperation.

"Go on Jason we can fight later." Rory sidestepped him and headed for what she assumed was the bathroom.

Jason stared after her torn over which direction he should go. The fact that Rory wasn't arguing with him meant that she was more hurt than angry. He hated the fact that he had hurt her, and her tired suggestion of wondering about their relationship shook him to the core. But Johnny was right he did need to go. He had to be with Sonny when they delivered the news of the death of their men, to their families. "We'll talk later."

"Whatever." Rory kept her back to him and walked into the bathroom.

"I got a vehicle for you to use." He called loudly. "It's on parking level 4." He dropped the keys on the bed. "Francis would drive you wherever you want."

Rory sneered at that statement.

"But I know you'd rather drive yourself, so he'll just follow you." Jason waited in vain for a reply. "Bye Rory." He waited another minute and then left the room.

"Bye Jason." Rory whispered to her reflection, knowing that she was acting childish, and doing something about it, were two entirely different things. She made a face and pushed her hair back to look at the bandage on her forehead. Even with the makeup her bruised cheek, and stark white bandage certainly made a statement. And that statement wasn't good.

What had she meant by that remark? She moved out of the bathroom and paused thoughtfully by the bed. She hadn't even known what she was going to say when it had come flying out of her mouth. Judging from the look on Jason's face it had surprised him as much as it had surprised her. Jason, she frowned when she thought about him, she was too hurt and mad to think about him right now, she needed a distraction. Her eyes fell on the car keys on the bed.

Technically it was probably too soon for her to go for a drive. After all she had suffered a pretty major head injury, not to mention her arm was in a sling. She bent over and picked up the keys and headed for the door. She didn't even have her license or her insurance information. She moved down the stairs and headed for the phone, dialing a number from memory she hummed Mickey while waiting for it to be picked up.

__

"Ello."

"Emily its Rory. What are you doing?"

__

"Avoiding art class." Emily ducked into a bathroom she was passing. "Where did you disappear to? Francis was pissed."

"Enough about Francis, I was thinking about your problem, and I have a solution." She looked around in vain for a clock. "What time do you get out of class?"

__

"If you have a solution I'm ready now." Emily said excitedly.

"Be out front of your school in 20 minutes." Rory ordered and hung up the phone. The phone book she was able to find easily enough and she looked up the address of the school. Then headed for the door.

Francis turned to look when the door opened behind him. "Ms. Nichols," he eyed her and the phone book in her hand warily. "Did you need something?"

"Yeah just a minute Mr. Francis," Rory shoved the phone book in his hands and stepped back to move to a closet by the door. As she figured a coat of hers was hanging in it and she awkwardly began to put it on over her sling.

"Let me help." Francis grabbed the edge that kept slipping to the ground and placed it over her injured shoulder. "Are you going out?"

At least he said you instead of we, that was a definite point in his favor. Rory smiled brightly. "Yes I'm picking up Emily," she held up the keys. "Jason said there was a car for me on parking level 4?" She moved past him towards the elevator.

"That's right." Johnny had briefed him about Rory, but he hadn't quite believed it. Judging from Jason's expression when he had left a short while before and the way she had lost him earlier, he was beginning to. As such he was going to be very careful around her.

"So Mr. Francis, do you like being a leash holder?" Rory started off when the elevator doors opened and glanced over at him. "I must say you're the best dressed leash holder I've ever seen."

Francis cocked a brow in her direction but didn't rise to the bait. "I like to look my best."

Rory smothered a smile, he was going to be fun.

The car came to a halt and Rory jostled him slightly. "Sorry, caught me off guard." She said with a grin and moved off of the car and surveyed the partially filled garage. "Which one…" Her voice trailed off when she spotted it. "He wouldn't."

"Adam said its in slot 412." Francis pointed in the direction she was looking.

Rory moved closer and aimed the key chain at the vehicles and hit the button to deactivate the alarm. As she had feared the Midnight blue Dodge Durango's headlights flashed once in response. "That little shit."

"Excuse me?" Francis asked. "Is there a problem with the vehicle? Jason said this was the model you preferred."

"I bet he did," she muttered moving to the driver's door. "Well you can tell him it won't work."

Confused Francis just nodded his head and opened the door for her. "Anything you say Ms. Nichols."

That caught her attention and she focused on him again. "Are you a smartass Mr. Francis?"

Francis closed the door after her. "You'll have to be the judge of that Ms. Nichols." He moved quickly to a dark black Ford Explorer Trac truck, parked beside her. "I'll be right behind you."

Definite smartass, this really was going to be fun. She cut off that train of thought and started the vehicle. She had forgotten that she was mad at Jason, so nothing was fun. "Remember that Nichols. He moves in when you're least expecting it and you find yourself living in the Drummond's penthouse, before you even have a chance to say _Whatcho talking about Mr. D.?_" With that admonishment she put the Durango in gear and took off.

****

~General Hospital~

"I guess what they say about Doctor's doing anything to pad the bill is right." Gabriella spoke mainly to herself, making sure to keep her voice low. "Oh well." She put the samples she had taken from Rory Nichols in the cooler, for use by the technician to run a DNA comparison. She hadn't known a paternity test was necessary for a head injury, but this hospital was an odd place to work.

Lucky walked out of the room adjacent to the lab, as soon as she disappeared down the hall. He didn't have much time, the tech would be back from his break anytime now. He took another quick look around before pulling a homemade scanner from his pocket. He attached the clamps to a plastic card that looked like a credit card and slid it inside the electronic lock. The door beeped at him but the lock didn't give. Frowning he typed in an access code on his scanner and waited while the numbers began to cycle through his program. 

"Come on." He urged it to hurry when the ding of the elevator sounded from around the corner and footsteps began to head in his direction. The locks clicked and he opened the door and disappeared inside. He paused by the door, listening for the footsteps and tensed as they neared him, then breathed again when they kept going past the door.

He hurried to the desk first and checked the inbox for the fake work order request he had drafted for Rory Nichols, by Dr. Jones. Then he moved onto the first storage unit looking for her samples. He finally found them in the third unit and quickly pulled them out. He opened the small cooler he had brought with him, and put both the blood sample and the tissues sample in them. With a thoughtful smirk he headed for the door, eager to get on with the next part of his plan.

Lucky opened the door cautiously but the coast was clear, he quickly left the room and pulled hard on the door, making sure the locks clicked behind him, then headed for the elevator. Lucky was whistling when the doors opened, and began to move inside before realizing it was already occupied. "Mrs. Hardy."

"Hello Lucky." Audrey looked up from her clipboard. "I heard you were hurt yesterday. You haven't had a setback have you?"

"No." Lucky said quickly. As always being around her made him miss Elizabeth even more. He had always known that Audrey loved her granddaughter but it wasn't until Elizabeth's accident that he realized just how much she had loved her. The spark seemed to have gone out of Audrey's eyes, a spark that had yet to return. 

The urge to tell her the wonderful news that Elizabeth was back, surged in him, and he fought it back. He wouldn't tell her until he had the proof to back it up. He knew she would believe Rory was really Elizabeth, but he needed the proof to convince Rory that she was. Until he had that, he wouldn't let Audrey be hurt by Rory's rejection.

Audrey debated on asking Lucky if he had heard about the girl that supposedly looked like Elizabeth. The girl had checked out before she had the opportunity to see her, herself. But Amy swore she looked like Elizabeth, and after some prodding, both Bobbie and Monica had reluctantly backed up her story. That had shaken her deeply. The thought of someone else in the world that looked so much like Elizabeth both thrilled her and worried her. Perhaps it was for the best that Rory was gone before she saw her.

"I'll talk to you soon Mrs. Hardy." Lucky moved out of the car as soon as the doors opened, he took a step then turned back to face her. "I should have some good news when I do. Some very good news."

****

~L&B~

"Nikolas." Gia announced her presence with a cry and the slam of the door. "You'll never guess what happened."

Ned's eyes met Nikolas and he jerked his head in her direction. "We can finish this later."

"Thanks." Nikolas turned around in time to catch a very excited Gia. "What happened?" He asked when she finally let go of him.

"Carly set up this modeling shoot, well more like a jaunt. I'm going to be going to Paris, Athens, Rome, Barcelona, Moscow and London. Kind of doing the woman of the world campaign." She couldn't keep the smile off of her face. She had tried to act blasé when Carly had told her about it, but it was hard to keep that up, as Carly described what all she would be doing. Her mother was going to have to see that modeling wasn't just something to laugh off anymore. That this was a career that was taking her places.

"That's great." Nikolas moved to sit on a chair facing her. "I know how hard you've worked for this. How long will you be gone?"

"Three weeks." She took his hand. "But you haven't heard the best part. Carly okayed it, so did your mother." She shook her head in disbelief. "I even talked to Ned and he agreed."

"Agreed to what?" Nikolas asked.

"That you can come with me. Just imagine it we'll finally have time to explore all those cities you have been telling me about." She moved closer and threw her arms around his neck. "This will be so perfect, I think we could use some time away from Port Charles and everything here."

Nikolas' arms tightened around her automatically. Leave Port Charles? The thought reverberated in his mind. How could he leave now when everything was so confused?

****

~Durango~

"This car is soooo nice." Emily ran her hand over the leather seats. "I can't believe your driving already. I mean should you be driving? Because I have my license."

"No I can drive just fine, it's not a stick so there's no problem." Rory answered briefly pulling the SUV back into traffic. "And I suppose this piece of crap will do until I can get a car I really want."

Emily looked over in surprise. "This is a piece of crap?"

"Yes and he is so not going to get around me that way." Rory groused. "The damn thing shimmies when it shouldn't, and drives like a tank. I mean look," she took her hand off the wheel and the vehicle kept moving in an arrow straight line down the road. "See how much it moves? You got to keep a hold of it or you pitch off to the right."

"Did you just take some medication?"

"Emily you're not helping." Rory shot her a warning look before focusing on the traffic again. "You're brother thinks I'm going to get so attached to this thing, that I'll let him buy it for me. Well he is sadly mistaken. But why am I not surprised?" She went on and answered her own question. "After all he is mistaken about a lot of things, where I'm concerned."

"What did Jason do?"

"You're brother just reminded me why I dislike men at times." She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Francis right behind her. He was better at sticking then most were. "And he is not going to get around me by getting me a car. Not even one I might have mentioned, once or twice in passing, how much I liked." 

Ever the logical one Emily tried to be helpful. "A good thing about it though, is it's not a stick. With your arm in a sling, you wouldn't be able to drive your car even if it was drivable."

Rory took her eyes off the road to glare at her and only turned back when a horn began to blare in warning. "I like sticks, they give you power." She whipped around a stalled taxi and kept on flying. She bit down on the thrill the power of the engine gave her. "Besides this thing is so big, it doesn't handle near as well."

Emily took in Rory's one handed maneuvers as she whipped around three cars, switching lanes like an old pro, and nodded her head. "And listen to that radio it's all distorted."

Rory frowned at the radio, which was coming in clear as a bell, the base was reverberating in the back, giving them a pleasant ride. "Bite me Emily."

Emily laughed and after a minute Rory joined her.

"So what is your plan?" Emily asked after another few minutes.

"I found a free clinic in a neighboring town," she gestured to the phone book on the floor. "We'll head there and you can get an exam, that way we'll know for sure, and you will still have your anonymity."

"I could find out today?" Emily asked hopefully.

"Not today," Rory explained as they pulled up to a red light, and casually checked her rearview mirror. "But they'll take the test and give you a physical, and you should have the results in a day, two at the outside."

"That would be great."

Rory glanced up at the light that was about to turn, and then at all the cars that had joined them at the stoplight. The light turned green but Rory stayed where she was. Almost immediately the horns started. "Oh nuts." Rory cried and began to fidget in her seat.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked looking to the floor automatically when Rory focused on it. 

"I broke a nail in the accident." She held up her good hand and ignored the horns.

"Rory it's green." Emily gestured to the road.

"I know." She fidgeted around some more, as some cars began to go around her and flipped her off as they did so. "Same to you buddy." She kept one eye on the rearview the other on the light. "Come on Mr. Francis."

"Francis?" Emily cried turning around to look out of the window. "Francis is here? He can't know. He can't follow us to the clinic."

"Chill Emily." Rory grinned when Francis got out of his truck and began to walk towards her car just as the light turned yellow.

Rory stepped on the accelerator and tore through the intersection, her taillights clearing it just as it turned red. She kept an eye on the rearview as Francis ran for his truck. But by the time he reached it the busy intersection was flowing with traffic blocking his advance after her. To be on the safe side, Rory did a series of turns designed to lose any pursuer while Emily kept her eye out the back window. "There we go, no more Mr. Francis."

****

~Limo~

No one had said a word since they had left the last house. The two men in the back, as well as the two men in the front were all lost in their own private thoughts, their own private hell. 

Max was finally realizing just how dangerous his job could be. He hadn't been around during the previous power struggles. He had come up the ranks as a courier, but no one he knew had ever died before. And now three of his friends were dead, all in the same night, and all by the same killer. For the first time, he let himself look past the thrill of the job and realize the uncertainty that came with it. Could he deal with the harsh reality of his job?

Johnny wondered how many more people would die before this was over. He knew his bosses well enough to know that they didn't deliberately put their men in harms way. Even the lowest man on the totem pole, got more respect then they would have from any other organization. But death still won sometimes, no matter how careful you were. How many victims would death claim before it was sated again?

Sonny's eyes were closed, he was trying to banish the face of the woman they had just left from his mind. Trying but failing. He knew he would never forget her face, like he would never forget the face of the father of the other man who had died. But even over those faces, the image of Manny's sister haunted him. Sister Mary Elena. She had watched her brother die, said rosaries for Manny, and then she had said them for him, and Jason. Praying for their souls, as they plotted the vengeance she knew was coming. She prayed for them, yet offered no rebuke, or even tried to talk them into turning the other cheek. Sister Mary Elena was an enigma, and her face would haunt him more then the others.

Jason shifted beside him drawing his focus to his partner. This had hit him hard, but something else had hit Jason even harder. He had a feeling that his conversation with Rory had not gone well.

The muted sound of a cell phone ringing drew the attention of three of the occupants in the car. 

"Morgan." 

__

"Jason its Francis. I lost her." He waited for the explosion that he knew was going to come.

Jason sighed wearily and closed his eyes. _"Somewhere along the line you decided to change the rules in our relationship. I need to see if I can live with that. Because despite what you may be thinking I do have a say in our relationship."_ Her words came back to haunt him again. "Was she driving?"

__

"Yes she's in the Durango you got her. She picked up Emily and then stalled at a light…"

"And when you went to check on her she floored it and disappeared." Jason finished for him. "Don't worry Francis it wasn't your fault. To put it bluntly, no one stays with Rory unless she wants them too. No one."

Sonny looked over with a frown at that remark.

__

"So what do you want me to do? We got Lojack on the vehicle you want me to activate it?" Francis asked when he realized Jason wasn't going to go off on him.

"No," Jason pinched the bridge of his nose the image of what Rory would do if he tracked her by her car, was not a place he wanted to go. "Go back to the penthouse and wait, if she isn't back in two hours call me."

__

"That's it?" Francis couldn't help but press for more. He couldn't believe that she had lost him just like that. It was the first time in close to 6 years that someone had lost him. And the fact that Jason didn't seem surprised really burned him.

"Yes." Jason confirmed and closed the phone.

__

Francis closed the phone and reluctantly reached for the ignition to start his car, at the same time someone tapped on his window. He smothered a groan when he saw the blue uniform, signaling a cop. This was not his day.

Sonny waited for Jason to speak, but he just stared out the window. "Rory lost Francis?"

"Yes."

"How could she have done that?" Sonny demanded.

"From the way he described it, she lost him on purpose. Other times she just loses people by accident. It's all a game to her." Jason explained.

"This isn't a game Jason, doesn't she know that?" Sonny snapped. He was going to have to talk to Francis this was twice she had lost him.

Johnny kept his mouth shut, he had absolutely no problem visualizing Rory losing Francis, and he raised the privacy window when he heard the direction the conversation was taking.

"Man old Carny got beat." Max said with a perverse grin. "Just wait until the guys hear that." Francis Carnivale was always one of the final tests any new guard or driver had to take, before graduating to the next level. He ranked them on how well they did at trying to follow him, or lose him. No one had ever beaten him, well Morgan had lost him once but that was over 6 years ago. Since then no one had, so for him to get toasted by a girl, he shook his head in glee, he couldn't wait to get off work and tell that story.

"You haven't met Rory yet have you?" Johnny offered casually.

"We drove her from Jake's. She seemed real quiet." Max replied.

"I wouldn't gloat too much then," Johnny warned him. "You better wait until you meet her."

"Why? She's just a girl what could she do?"

Johnny shook his head, the boy had so much to learn.

~*~

"How would she know that Sonny? As she reminded me a little while ago, I haven't told her a damn thing. Instead I've been treating her like she was stupid." Jason snapped.

"You would never treat her like that," Sonny argued. "There are things she can't know about."

"She knows that and she never asks about my job. But this wasn't about my job Sonny, it was about her, and I didn't talk to her, I just made decisions for her. She won't stand for that." Jason turned back to the window.

"You're acting like she's going to leave." Surprise tinged his voice. "Do you think she's already left?"

"No. Rory's not made that way. If she were to leave she'd tell me to my face before she walked out the door. She doesn't run and hide from things, or confrontations." Jason's voice grew quiet. "But she isn't afraid to leave."

Nervous for Jason, Sonny tried to think of the words to reassure both Jason and himself. "Can't you call her?"

"Her phone was in the car."

****

~PCPD~

"Counselor two meetings in one day, how did I ever get so lucky?"

"You left in such a rush Lieutenant that we never finished discussing some things." Alexis focused on the tall Lieutenant. "Did you need to get to the music store? I hear there is a sale on 80's CD's."

"What sale?" Detective Garcia looked at Taggert in question.

"What do you want?" A grumpy Taggert asked her stepping behind his desk.

Reluctantly Alexis wiped the smile from her face. "Ms. Nichol's belongings, those that have been cleared anyway, I'm here to pick them up."

"Now you know that as evidence in an ongoing investigation I can't just give them out."

Alexis pulled a form from her briefcase. "Here is a listing from Dr. Ford, itemizing those articles that his office has completed their investigation of. On this you will see that her purse, including all items in it can be released. And since we all know what a pain it is to deal with the DMV you certainly don't intend to keep her belongings from her, now do you?"

Taggert took the list with a scowl and scanned the list. His eyes widened slightly when he caught something surprising, but he quickly cleared them and signed the list. "You can pick them up in processing." He told her signing the form quickly, anxious for her to be on her way.

Alexis took the form and eyed him warily that was far too easy. His bland expression met hers, but she saw a glimmer in his eyes that signaled that cat that ate the canary look. She had a feeling he was up to something. "Thanks Lieutenant. Remember if you want to speak with any of my clients you will need to speak with me first."

"Certainly counselor." Taggert agreed with a grin. "Do you need some help finding processing?"

He was definitely up to something, but she would have to wait to see what it was. "Lieutenant," she nodded at Garcia. "Detective."

Garcia watched her clear out of the room, before focusing on Taggert. "What did you see?"

"Let's head to forensics." Taggert opened a drawer and pulled out an envelope.

"Why?"

Taggert tapped the envelope in his hand. "Something wasn't on that list that should have been. We need to find out why."

****

~Port Charles Hotel~

147, 148, 149, 150, with a small grunt of exertion Marin powered his way through the last pushup, then sat back on his haunches and glanced at his watch. He had shaved another 3 minutes off his time.

Satisfied he got to his feet and crossed to a table, snagging a towel to wipe the sweat from his brow while he did so, he sat down and began to study the papers spread open there. It had been a little costly but the informant had come through with the plans for the Harborview Towers. Now all he had to do was find the weakness in them, and he would have access to the penthouse level. Morgan might think that he had increased Rory's safety, but he hadn't. He loved a challenge, and that was what Morgan had provided him. Getting to them while they were in the most secure building in the city was a challenge he wouldn't be able to walk away from.

He reached for the phone, then stopped when a thought crossed his mind. "Maird." How could he have forgotten? Infuriated he picked up the phone and threw it across the room. That was twice he had made a mistake in this assignment. That was two more then he allowed himself to ever make. "Hopefully it was lost in the water."

****

~Durango~

"I still can't believe you lost Francis like that." Emily was feeling so much better. The exams had gone well, and she hadn't been afraid of seeing anyone she knew. With Rory being there, and bandaged up, most people thought Rory was the patient and she was the friend offering support. It had worked out beautifully. Now all she had to do was kill time until they phoned with the results.

"Emily it can be easy, you just got to know the philosophy, once you have that down, you can do it too." Rory explained. She was doing her best to keep the speedometer down to at least being in the range of the speed limit. Since she didn't have her license there was no reason to invite trouble. But as much as she hated to admit it, the Durango was growing on her.

"What philosophy?" Emily's eyes widened as Rory whipped between an 18-wheeler and a Lexus with only a few inches to spare.

"Well it's not exactly a philosophy it's more like a motto to live by. Once you understand it, and fully embrace it, your life will be so much easier."

"So tell me already." Emily snapped giving into temptation and grabbing the oh shit handle as they took the exit from the freeway about 20 miles faster then they should have.

"Never underestimate a man's ability to underestimate a woman." Rory said with a grin. "Those are words to live by."

Emily laughed. "That is your secret in life?"

"Yes," she shot her a glare. "And don't laugh it works wonders."

"I bet so." They were on a straightaway now, nearing her house and the excitement of riding with Rory had eased some. "So where did you learn to drive like this?"

"Well that is a funny story, I owe it all to my Uncle Gabe and Mike Villalobos."

"That name sounds familiar." Emily wrinkled her nose and tried to place it.

Rory giggled. "Do you remember hearing about a standoff in Illinois that happened a couple of years ago?"

"Something about the DEA?"

"Yeah see Mike is an old friend of my Uncle's. He used to be ultra military, a Semper Fi wannabe, who never made it in the Marine's himself," she glanced over at Emily. "Flat feet, and between you and me, I don't think he would have passed the stress test either. He's not wrapped too tightly if you catch my drift."

"Gotcha."

"Anyway, about, I don't know, 5 years ago he does a reversal, instead of being an aging Mr. Paramilitary Uncle Sam, he switches to a free love/free experiences guru, but he still believes in a right to bear arms. He hadn't changed that much. As such he decided to secede from the United States when they wouldn't legalize Marijuana." Rory shook her head at the memory. "Him and his followers held off the DEA in rural Illinois for about 2 months until someone in the DEA got the bright idea to try to burn them out."

"Oh god I remember that now." Emily laughed. "And the fields they burned were hemp."

"Yep. That was our tax dollars at work." Rory grinned. "So while the Feds were stoned out of their minds, Mike and his crew escaped."

"My Government professor told me about the case. Weren't his followers mainly female?"

"Yes, sadly that is the rest of Mike's legacy. He has some guys with him, but remember he believed in free love, so he encourages women to follow him." Rory explained. "So he gets these women like Teresa, Tina, and Angela to follow him, and in the end he doesn't really want any of them."

"Why not?" Emily was fascinated.

"Well at one time, before he went a little nuts he had a wife named Deb. Once Mike 'lost it' Deb moved on, and in with a guy named Scott. Well that sent Mike over the edge, so basically wherever Deb moves, he moves his crew after her."

"God is he dangerous?"

"No, that's the kicker, Deb still sneaks out and sees him sometimes, she just won't leave Scott."

"That sounds like a soap opera," Emily murmured. "But how does that have to do with how well you drive?"

"I've known Mike, through my uncle for about 5 years now. He taught me how to drive. While he was all into Uncle Sam, he took all these combat driving courses among other things, and he taught me. So every year, I track him down and take a refresher course in trade. Last year Jason went with me. Those two didn't exactly hit it off, but it was funny to watch them." Rory smiled at the memory until she remembered that she was mad at Jason. "Your brother, insisted that I wouldn't need those skills. But as you can see I did and do. He's just pissed because I always lose him whenever we race, and it doesn't matter what vehicle I'm in, he can never stay with me."

Emily wisely didn't offer any comments on her brother and instead she asked. "What do you do for Mike in trade?"

"Oh Mike likes to get into places he shouldn't and I…" Rory stopped herself. She was getting along with Emily but she was still a bit young, and Jason's sister. "Lot's of different things."

Curiosity was burning inside of her but Emily let it slide. "Here's the drive."

Rory slowed and pulled in the drive looking for a house that wasn't in view yet, she grew quiet and the Durango slowed even more as the moved up the long and curvy drive. A quarter mile later a large mansion came into view. This was where the Jason Quartermaine part of Jason had grown up. The house itself was easily the size of a small office building only it sprawled instead of going skyward. In the distance tennis courts and a stable were barely visible. "Nice place."

"Yeah." She could see the tension in Rory and tried to put her at ease. "I thought it was so huge the first time I saw it. But it's really not as big as it looks."

So instead of a major league football team playing here, a minor league team could, Rory thought dourly. The fact that Jason had money never really concerned her. But after hearing about his $5,000,000 slush fund and seeing what he was used to, their differences really struck her. Unfortunately for her, those differences were hitting her while she was already unsure about her future with Jason. Her good hand tightened on the steering wheel, and smelling the new car interior for the first time in hours, she brought the Durango to a sudden stop.

"Do you want to come in?" Emily asked when she got on the ground.

"No I better get going." Rory mustered a smile for Emily. "Call me when you hear something, if not before. We're at…" she trailed off then went on. "Jason's old place, the penthouse, I don't know if the number has changed or not, but you can reach me there, for now anyway."

"Alright, thanks again Rory." Emily slammed the door and stepped back from the SUV, she waited outside until the taillights disappeared from view. She wasn't real eager to face dinner at the Q's. She still hadn't talked to her mom about the biopsy, so it was uncomfortable being around her. But until she had her own life figured out, she couldn't begin to focus on the possibility of her mom's cancer returning. With a loud sigh she turned around to head for the door. She had only taken a step when a black blur disengaged itself from one of the bushes and intercepted her.

"We need to talk Emily." Zander stepped closer to her.

****

~Penthouse 3~

Night was slowly claiming the glory from the day, but the brightening stars escaped Jason's notice while he stood at the window looking out at the darkening sky. Waiting was never easy for him. It used to be that the only things he really waited for was doing something for Sonny, or doing something with Robin if she came by. Gradually his world had expanded and he had grown accustomed to waiting, at least in his professional life. With what he did for Sonny he couldn't rush his work no matter how much he wanted too at times. But personally he still hated waiting, especially when he was waiting for the woman in his life and the fight that was sure to happen when she arrived.

Robin and him had rarely fought, at least not the way he and Rory did. Their fights had centered on his work, and her feelings that he was letting Carly use him. It was never real personal between them, they fought about the things around them. Carly and him argued a lot, but that was Carly. Normally it faded into exasperation for him, long before it would with her. Maria had never fought with him, but what they'd had was nothing more then a brief interlude. No Rory was unique, she drove him crazy the way no one else had, and yet their relationship was the healthiest.

Frowning he moved back into the room. It was strange being back in the penthouse. Looking around now he couldn't help but remember the different times he had spent in this place. The first had happened when it wasn't even his place, when it still belonged to Katherine Bell. He remembered a night he had spent here with Robin, a night in which they had first admitted that they wanted to be with each other.

Next came the images of Carly and Michael. Even though the showplace furniture she had brought in, had been replaced by more toddler friendly furniture, Carly's stamp was still in the room somehow. And now he was back in this place. A place that he thought he would never return too, after the way he had left it that cold January, yet here he was, he had to wonder if Rory would stay in it with him.

He looked up when the door opened and the relief came when he heard her voice.

"Now Mr. Francis don't be like that. It wasn't your fault you lost me, I wanted you to lose me," Rory explained with a grin. "If it makes you feel better I lose Jason all the time."

Francis shook his head and didn't give her an inch as he opened the door wider.

"Pout much?" Rory teased while looking inside. When she saw Jason her smile disappeared and her back stiffened. "Thanks Mr. Francis."

Francis felt the arctic breeze coming off of her and quickly closed the door. Every time he had thought about getting involved with a woman again, memories of his last catastrophe and seeing his friends getting raked over the coals always made him banish the thought. Playing the field was so much healthier.

~*~

Rory moved to the closet and slid out of her coat easily enough, getting it on the hangar was another story. With her arm in a sling it was difficult to get the jacket to stay on the hangar, after the third time it slipped she just let if fall to the floor and closed the door. She took a breath to brace herself and then turned around to look at him. 

"Can we talk?" Jason asked.

"Now you want to talk to me?" Rory sniped then shook her head, she didn't want to act like this. "Forget that, what do you want to say?"

Jason waited until she perched on the edge of the soft, white loveseat before starting. "I know I messed up. I should have told you about wanting to move here, and about Francis."

"Yes you should have." Rory agreed

"I'm sorry I didn't." He sat on the coffee table facing her.

"Why didn't you?" Her eyes searched his unreadable blue depths. "This wasn't like you."

"I don't know," he said honestly.

Rory's eyes flashed briefly before she spoke. "That's not an answer Jason, it's an evasion."

"I don't know why I didn't tell you, I just didn't. I was going to, but then everything happened all at once and there wasn't time. You found out on your own, and I know that hurt you. All I can do is say I'm sorry." He took a chance and touched her hand and she didn't pull away.

She studied his eyes, the regret was easy to see in them, so too was pain and anger. His normally clear blue eyes, were swirling with several emotions, too many for her to identify right then. "I spent most of the afternoon thinking about this. I was going be calm and rational when we had this conversation. No yelling, or accusations just talking. Now that it's time to have this civilized fight and I don't really don't know what to say."

"Do we have to fight? Can't we just agree I messed up and let it go?"

Now she pulled her hand away from him. "I trust you more then I've trusted anybody in my life before. Because of that trust, you have the power to hurt me like no one ever has." 

Jason flinched but was quiet.

"I know you would never intentionally try to hurt me, but a part of you knew what you were doing. A part of you knew, that I would be hurt by your keeping me in the dark about something that concerns me." She paused for a minute before going on, trying to make sense of her racing thoughts. 

"If you were to come through that door and said we had to run, I would take your hand without a second's hesitation and I would run with you. When we were safe, then, and only then, would I ask you why we were running. And if you told me that someone was trying to hurt you or me, because of your job, that's all you would you have to say. The only other thing I would ask you is, how many were there, and what they looked like. I wouldn't ask you why, because it would be none of my business." She got to her feet and moved so she was standing behind the loveseat.

"But if, when I asked you, you told me that I was the target because of something I did, then I would ask you why. I would ask you who, when, everything. Because then it would be **my** business. As such I would demand to know everything, and to make decisions, I wouldn't give you that control over me."

"I was trying to keep you safe," Jason corrected. "I wasn't trying to control you."

"Yes you were Jason. You could have said at anytime that things were getting crazy and we needed to move here. You could have come back in the room this morning and told me that you had to leave, but there was a guard named Francis who would be there for me, instead of just sticking your hand in long enough to grab your coat, and avoid me." Rory accused him.

Jason ran a hand over his cheek and got to his feet. "You noticed that."

"Jason there isn't a thing about you that I don't notice. You always hated when the Quartermaine's would try to make decisions for you, guess what I hate that too."

Stung Jason fired back. "I was doing this out of concern." He couldn't believe she was comparing him to the Quartermaines.

"You know what? I bet they said the same thing to you." Rory shot back, she could feel herself getting angry again. The little pains that were in shoulder and in her head were fading because of her temper and for that she was grateful, but she couldn't help the slight wince when she moved to abruptly.

"I picked up your prescription its on the desk." Jason saw her wince and was immediately concerned.

"I'll be fine, I don't want to take anything. I don't like the way the drugs make me feel."

"You don't like to lose control." Jason corrected.

"Neither do you." She held up a hand. "And before you go comparing me to the control freak next door. Remember I only try to control my life, not everyone else's."

"Still you can't always control everything." He stepped closer, and could see the pain in her eyes and felt pain in his heart when she backed away from him.

"I know, believe me I know. I spent years of my life having no control over anything." She busied herself by straightening a pillow on the couch. "I can't even tell you how many times Gabe woke me up in the middle of the night, saying we had to run. Or how many times I would fall asleep in one place, only to wake up in another. I had to go, because he was my guardian, I didn't have a say because I was too young. But finally I was old enough to question him. And one day I even refused to leave."

She slumped down wearily on the couch. "One night he came to me and told me to run and I said no. I was 15," she shook her head and smiled a little at the memory. "He was stunned and tried to order me to go."

"That didn't go very well I bet." Jason sat beside her.

"No. He discovered that I was in fact my mother's daughter. So he ran, one step ahead of the law I admit, and I stayed behind."

"He left you alone when you were 15?"

"I declared my independence at 15," Rory corrected. "Anyway I found him again a few months later, and from then on it was different. He talked to me like an equal. He finally realized I had a say in my own life. Since that point I've made sure anyone I was close too, knew that too."

Rory shifted so she was facing him, and reached up with her good hand and pressed it to his cheek. "As much as I need you in my life Jason. I'm willing to walk away from you. I need you, but I need to be able to look at myself in a mirror more. I'm not an appendage or some doll that only lives to be around you. I make my own decisions in life. And I won't give that up, and I would never ask you to, so I can't believe you asked me too."

His hand covered hers. "I didn't."

Rory sighed heavily. "Yes you did, by just letting things happen, you did." She pulled away and got slowly to here feet. "You need to decide Jason. You need to decide what kind of relationship you want to have with me. The one we had before we hit Port Charles where we were partners, or the one that's developed in the last few days, one where you make all the rules. Choose carefully, because we'll both have to live with it." She warned him then headed for the stairs.

Jason stared after her, the bitter taste of her ultimatum filling his soul.


	30. Great in bed but strange

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Disclaimer: Standard

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Did you hear? Jason's coming back

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Feedback: Like it or hate it, let me know. Let me know, let me know. In other words please.

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What If…

Chapter 29

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~Penthouse 2~

"My but you look like hell," Carly said cheerfully when Jason finally opened the door after a good five minutes of knocking. She breezed past him, before he had a chance to close the door in her face. "I brought coffee, don't worry Sonny made it."

Jason sighed wearily before opening his eyes, he caught the sympathetic look Francis was giving him and turned around shutting the door in his face. "Carly…"

"Jesus Jason you still have the banana's furniture?" Carly cut him off and made a face at the forest green couch. "This is just awful, you really need to banish all traces of her from this place. My furniture," she shot him a glare. "The furniture you moved into storage for the hag's furniture is still there. Why don't you bring it back?"

Giving in he picked up the coffee she had brought and settled on the offensive couch. "Your furniture was hard as hell Carly. You could never get comfortable on it," he reminded her.

She wanted to argue with him but had to admit that he was right, as usual. But that didn't mean she had to admit it to him or give up. "What about getting some furniture that Rory picks out? She can't have as bad taste as the banana did. No one could, that woman must have IKEA on speed dial. You should have seen the hideous scarf she had on the other day, when she was meeting my ex, god it just screamed Pier 1," she shuddered. "Tacky does not even begin to describe it."

"I didn't know she was still in town." Or dating AJ, the last he knew Hannah Scott had been with Taggert.

"The skank will never leave. Mama wants us to have a nice family dinner with her and Roy. Never mind the fact that the little bitch tried to put Sonny and you in jail," Carly rolled her eyes in disgust. "So what do you think?"

"About what?" He asked absently before taking another sip of his coffee, listening in vain for any noise from the second floor. So far he hadn't heard a peep since Rory had disappeared up the stairs last night, leaving him to think about what she had said.

"Do you think Rory would be interested in getting some better furniture for this place?" Carly asked again.

"I don't know how long we'll be in town Carly, and I don't even know if Rory is s..." he broke off setting his coffee on the table in front of him.

Carly studied her friend, finally noticing the weariness in his eyes, and the wrinkled shirt he was wearing. She looked around and saw a folded blanket, and pillow on a chair. "Why did you sleep on the couch Jason? Did she kick you out?"

"It's not your business Carly."

"She did," incensed for her friend she looked towards the stairs. "What is the little twit's problem? Doesn't she realize that you spent the night before with her at the hospital, and you were no doubt exhausted? Man she is selfish."

"No she's not Carly, she's mad, and she's hurt, and she has every right to be," Jason interrupted her rant.

"So it's true," Carly said quietly. "She really did get mad at you for assigning Francis, and not telling her, then she lost Francis."

Jason shot her a look in question.

"I have ears," she defended herself. "You think women like to gossip? Let me tell you we have nothing on the guards around here. Francis getting ditched by Rory is so big, he's been getting picked on since last night. I thought it was a joke."

"It wasn't," he said shortly.

"She's mad about the guard?" Carly asked. "Or that you didn't tell her first?"

"You don't tell Rory things, you ask her," he corrected her assumption.

"Let me guess you didn't ask?" She shook her head and hoped for the best. "Jason tell me you didn't go into Sonny mode with her."

"Sonny mode?"

"Yes Sonny mode and don't look at me like that. You know you do it," she settled more comfortably on the couch. "Jason when I met you were strange," she smirked at his expression. "You were good in bed, but you were definitely strange."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jason asked. "Thank you by the way."

"I didn't know until later, that part of you was still learning. And you looked to Sonny and _Robin_," she all but snarled the name, "as your guides."

"I watched you too," he reminded her. "You were my first friend who didn't know a thing about who I once was. The first who liked me, for me, and didn't compare me to him."

She smiled and took his hand. "In a lot of ways you were the first friend, and the only one I guess, that didn't expect me to try to be somebody I wasn't. Even the real Carly Roberts, did that at times," she shook the memory of her friend away. "The point I was trying to make is that I think sometimes when things get heavy you revert to doing what Sonny would do. It makes sense, because you learned a lot from him and the rest from Miss Priss," ignoring his glare in warning she went on, "but we won't go there."

"So?" Jason reached for his coffee. 

"So Rory doesn't seem to react very well to Sonny at times. You do remember the frost coming off of her at Jake's the other day don't you? Somehow I think she will like it even less if she saw his behavior in you."

Jason nodded seeing her point.

It was strange for her to be sitting in this penthouse. A penthouse she had once dreamed of living as a family in with Michael and Jason. And instead of being a family with Jason, she had her own family and was talking to Jason about another woman. A part of her felt uncomfortable and a little upset, but was relieved to note that the majority of her felt glad that Jason finally had someone worthwhile in his life, just like she had. After spending several years unintentionally trying to wreck his life, it was nice to see him happy. She wanted to keep seeing him that way. "Sonny doesn't tell me things, because he likes to protect me. He's like that with all the women in his life. That's just the way he is. I hate it but I can live with it most of the time. But somehow I don't think that Rory can or will."

"No she's won't," Jason agreed.

"Look I know she helped you and Sonny in the past, so that tells me, that you are used to talking to her."

"What do you mean?" Keeping his expression blank he turned to look at her.

"Again with the look," she muttered. "Sonny told me she saved his and your life in Puerto Rico last December. He didn't give me details, but that was enough for me to know, that you really trust her."

"I do," he agreed neither confirming nor denying what she had just said.

"Then talk to her, she's not Miss Priss, she isn't going make you feel guilty. She's more like me, and I can handle knowing things. I wish Sonny would realize that. I mean you told me things," she crossed her arms and pouted "and I didn't do anything wrong then."

He leaned back and elbowed her ribs slightly. "Do you remember the strike you called?"

Carly flushed guiltily. "Okay so one time, I might have overreacted."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Fine so maybe too much information isn't a good thing for me," Carly admitted reluctantly. "But I'm not Rory. You can't treat her like you treated Robin, or me. She doesn't deserve that."

"I know," Jason rubbed wearily at the back of his neck. "I know I should have talked to her, but I didn't." He got to his feet and moved to the window. "And because I didn't, I hurt her. She doesn't like the way I've been acting, and I don't know if she'll stay."

Surprised and concerned she followed her friend. "Did she say she was leaving?"

"No," he admitted "But she said some things that sounded like an ultimatum."

"Have you talked to her since then?" Carly hated to think she had been wrong about Rory. It wasn't that she liked Rory or anything, but she was definitely an improvement over _Robin_.

"No," he shook his head. "She went upstairs last night, and I stayed down here on the couch. I haven't seen her yet."

This was such a strange place for her to be in, and Carly couldn't help but smile at the idea of her giving relationship advice to Jason of all people. "Don't take what she said to heart Jason. She had just been in a serious accident. She had just spent the night in a hospital, which you said yourself she hated being in. The accident that put her there very nearly killed her." Jason flinched and she hurried on. "Rory had to be feeling stressed out, and had to be in physical pain as well. Then you add to all of that a change in address, then Francis, and she no doubt felt a little unsure," she poked his chest. "Then you go acting Sonny like with her, and she is bound to lash out."

He thought about her words, and then remembered the night before the accident, when Rory had been reeling over the head-trip Lucky had played on her. And the frustration she had been feeling because of the things he had known about her was readily apparent in hindsight. Carly was right, Rory had been feeling a little crazed even before the accident. That could help explain why she had gotten angrier then he thought she would about Francis, and moving.

"Damn," Carly looked at her watch. "I got to get to Deception. I know you probably won't listen to a word I say, and with my track record I can't blame you. But hear me out. You need to do what is right for you with Rory. If that means talking to her, do it. Don't act like Sonny, like me, or anyone else with her. You have to be yourself."

"Thanks Carly," he said with a soft smile as he walked her to the door. "You did make a lot of sense."

Carly's smile was brilliant at that remark, and she leaned over and kissed his cheek, then quickly wiped the lipstick off. "Under normal circumstances I would have left the lipstick there, just to piss Shorty off. But I have a feeling you have a big enough hole to dig yourself out of, so I'll save that for later."

"Thanks," he said with a shake of his head and opened the door.

"By the way you wouldn't mind telling Sonny I made sense would you?" She asked with a wheedling smile. "He needs to hear that more often."

"Goodbye Carly." Jason said in response.

"Can't you just repeat it so Francis can hear? I need witnesses."

Jason was smiling as he closed the door on his friends. He really had missed her. Carly had such a big heart. A heart that most people, either couldn't or wouldn't let themselves see. And she was right, he did need to talk to Rory, really talk to her. He needed to tell her everything, as she had said last night, she had a right to know because it concerned her.

He was heading for the stairs when someone knocked on the door. Francis opened it before he had the opportunity to call out. "Lieutenant Taggert and Detective Garcia are here to see you."

Jason rubbed at his throbbing temple, and nodded at Francis, this morning was not starting off very well.

~*~*~*~

"Do you ever blame the person you're with for stuff that happened a long before you met them?" Rory asked, shifting the phone to her other ear.

__

"Are you picking on Jason again?" Came the masculine reply.

"No," she rolled her eyes. "Not really and believe me he does deserve my anger, he just may not deserve all of it. He might have gotten caught in some backwash."

__

"Whose backwash? Uncle Gabe's?"

"No, Jason did mess up, and the way he did, reminded me of someone else. Not Gabe, someone worse. So do you think I'm blaming Jason for a past he doesn't know about?"

__

"Could be," he replied. "I think everyone does blame the new people in their life for things that happened in the past at least to some extent. So what is Jason being blamed for?"

"Philip." 

__

"Ugh." The name alone was enough to make him groan. "Having known both men, and I use that term loosely in describing one of them, I can't believe you would ever think that of Jason. And I highly doubt he would ever act like that with you."

"What he did wasn't as bad as what Philip did, no one could be that bad. But I do think I came down harder on him, then I should have because of Philip," she sighed and leaned back on the mattress. "Harry when did my life get so confusing? When did I turn into a witch? Wait don't answer that, I'm not a witch it's just this town and the effect it's had on Jason. Port Charles is a confusing place and ever since we got here, Jason's been acting different. I don't like that."

__

Harry opened the sliding glass door and moved out on the deck to listen to the raging ocean. "How different?" He could hear the confusion in his best friends voice, and that worried him some. Rory normally was very confident, the only area in her life she wasn't fearless in, however, was her love life.

"I don't know. It's lots of little things that are adding up. Like him not talking to me, not telling me about a guard, or moving us without even asking me first. Jason doesn't act like this with me."

__

"Well have you told him everything that is on your mind?" Harry heard silence on the other end and knew she hadn't. "Like the fact you love him?" Again silence was heard. "Judging from the quiet I would say no. It sounds like Jason isn't the only one talking."

"Back off Magoo." She tried to browbeat her friend off track, but wasn't holding her breath. 

__

"Have you even told him about Philip and why you need to have so much control over your life that you have become anal retentive in some respects?" Harry went on ignoring her anger.

"I am not anal." Insulted she shot up from the bed, and groaned when her sore shoulder let her know how much it didn't like to move quickly. "And what does Philip have to do about Jason not talking to me?"

__

"Hey you brought up the subject of the thing named Philip, not me," he reminded her. "But if Jason doesn't know about Philly boy, he doesn't know why you're so worried about him not talking to you, only doing for you."

"I know," she agreed glumly. The bad thing about best friends was that you couldn't sneak anything past them. They knew you too well to believe the bullshit, or lie to you. Sometimes that could really suck. Sometimes like now.

"I guess I haven't been totally myself either," she finally admitted. "This Elizabeth Webber thing freaked me out more then I thought it had, then there's the accident, that might not be an accident. Jason's highhandedness, the hospital visit from hell add that all together and I was bound to blow at somebody, and Jason as usual gave me the perfect target."

__

Harry sobered at the pain he heard in her voice. "I got some more information on the proving who you are front. I spoke to Ms. Inch, and she has some old yearbooks, that I'm going to pick up. She remembers you from freshman year. So that ought to get this Lucky off your back. If not, screw him, you know who you are."

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass on that," she replied wrinkling her nose in faint distaste. "I knew I could count on you."

__

"You can count on Jason too. Look we've been friends for years now, hell we grew up on the circuit together. Jason's a good guy, the only guy that I have had no problems with you dating, or even leaving town with after only knowing him for a few weeks. You might cut him some slack, after all he is only a guy, and how many times have you cursed the cluelessness of men?" He heard her slight laugh and went on. "Besides he is too good looking to give up."

That caused her to laugh out loud. "How do you know what he looks like, you're blind remember?"

__

"I can still hear the way the women sound around him, and let me tell you there is nothing like the sound of 10 women sucking in their gut when he walks in the room, and then hearing it come out on a groan of hate, when they realize he is with you."

Rory laughed like she knew he wanted. "Thanks Harry."

__

"I didn't do anything, I merely listened. I'll send the books when I get them," he heard someone behind him. "Speaking of sighing women, I need to go Rory."

"What's this ones name Tawny, Busty, Chesty?" She knew his type. Blonde, buxom, and mostly brainless.

__

"Goodbye brat," he replied.

"I love you too Magoo," she teased causing him to sigh. "Lana, Luna, Bitsy, Mitzi, Buffy, Muffy?" She kept calling out names until she heard the dial tone in her ear.

With a smile she moved back to the bedside table and hung up the phone. As usual all it took was a five-minute conversation with her best friend, and her life seemed to be in order again. And as usual he was right, she couldn't blame Jason for treading over old wounds, when he didn't even know what had caused them in the first place. They needed to have a serious talk.

She frowned at the rumpled bed. And since she had spent the night alone, it seemed like she was going to have to be the adult and make the first move. "Sometimes being a grown up really sucks." She stated to the empty room before opening the door and heading for the stairs.

"Jason?" Rory called out a little surprised that he wasn't there waiting for her. A quick trip into the pristine kitchen and other empty rooms on the floor, confirmed that she was in fact alone. "Well that's a kick in the pants. How can we fight, I mean work this out, if he's gone?"

She rolled her eyes and moved to the door. "Quit talking to your self Nichols," with that admonishment she opened the door.

"Ms. Nichols," Francis snapped to attention, tucking the phone in his pocket.

"Mr. Francis," she said just as seriously. "Have you seen Jason?"

"Well," he tugged at his ear, not knowing if he should go on.

"You better tell me, I will find out eventually," she warned him.

"He's been taken to the police station for questioning," Francis admitted. He saw her eyes narrow in anger and went on. "I've already called Ms. Davis and Mr. Corinthos, they'll probably be at the police station before he gets there."

"It was Kojak wasn't it?" Rory demanded moving back into the apartment heading for the closet. "Good old chrome dome," she grumbled reaching for the jacket that was still on the floor.

"Are we leaving?" Francis asked unnecessarily trailing a still grumbling Rory to the elevator. "Who's driving?" He asked helping her secure the coat over her sling.

"If you can direct me to the police station, you can ride with me. If you are going to be overly macho and think I need protecting from seeing Jason in jail, you can drive your own truck and try to keep up," she informed him shortly.

"I believe I left my overly macho pills with my gold chains, lame, and white bell-bottomed pants," Francis replied glibly, before pressing the button to close the door.

"Yep a definite smart ass," Rory shook her head. "You and I are going to have an interesting relationship," she warned him as the doors closed.

****

~Quartermaine Mansion~

"Emily may I come in?" 

"Yes Reginald," Emily called from the bathroom. Whether it was the lack of nerves because she knew she would soon find out if she was pregnant or not. Or the fact that she hadn't eaten the night before, she didn't know. But for the first time in over two weeks she hadn't been sick to her stomach upon waking. She even had color in her cheeks, and couldn't help but feel relieved. The Goth look just wasn't her. 

With a shake of her head she moved out to the other room. "What are you doing?"

Reginald turned around and held up a new bolt. "I was going to put this new lock on your window. With this one, someone would have to break the window to get in. And if he breaks it," he backtracked quickly. "I mean if someone breaks the windowpane the alarm will go off. Don't worry you can still subvert the alarm the way you always do, but only from the inside."

Emily sobered at his words, she knew where this extra need for security had come from. "Thanks."

He was sorry to see her smile fade, she hadn't smiled nearly enough in the last month. But he knew this was necessary, she couldn't keep playing musical rooms in the mansion trying to avoid Zander. Besides from what he had witnessed the night before, he didn't even know if this lock would be enough to keep the deviant away from her. He blanched at the thought. Apparently Edward was right in this case. That was such a scary thought.

"Thanks again for last night too," Emily said.

"I'll just be a minute then I'll take you to school." Reginald informed her.

"You don't have too."

"I want too, besides Lila wants to take the Dusenberg out later and look at the Spring flowers, I need to wash it," he tried to make it out like it was no big deal, when they both knew it was.

Emily smiled and quickly kissed his cheek. "You make it so easy to adore you Reginald," she picked up her bag. "I'll be downstairs."

The smile lasted until she heard the raised voices coming from the dining room. Quickly deviating from her path she moved outside to wait on the porch. She made a careful scan of the area before letting the door close. She wasn't going to be caught off guard by Zander again. Rubbing her arms she let herself remember the scary confrontation of the night before.

__

"We need to talk Emily," Zander blocked her path to the house.

"I think we said everything last night," Emily replied coolly. "Right before you started dragging me around."

"I'm sorry about that," he gave her a sad look. "I was just so scared of losing you and I reacted from that. I know I didn't handle things very well. I was just scared. Can't you understand that? I don't want to lose you, I love you too much."

"You love me enough to marks on me?" She demanded shoving up her sleeves to expose the dark marks he had left there. "You love me enough that you cheat on me, when I won't sleep with you? You love me enough that you constantly badmouth my friends and my decisions? You love me enough that you…" she stopped herself from going on. She wasn't ready to confront him about her fears of what had happened between them over a month before.

"Please let me explain," Zander interrupted her.

"I don't want to hear it Zander. I didn't break up with you in the heat of the moment. I broke up with you after giving it a lot of thought. It wasn't easy for me. I didn't want to give up on you," her voice softened. It was true she hadn't liked admitting that she was wrong about him. "But given the way you reacted when I told you we were over, I know I made the right choice."

"So now you're mad at me because I don't want to lose you?" Zander demanded. In spite of his best efforts and all the lectures he had given himself to the contrary, he was getting mad.

"Zander don't do this. We were good for a time, but that time has passed. Leave me some good memories, and let it go," she requested before moving past him towards the door.

"No," he grabbed her arm before she could walk far. "This isn't over yet, it's not over until I say it is."

"Let me go," Emily ordered tugging on her arm.

"Not until you listen to me."

"Listen to what? More excuses by you? No thank you," she yanked on her arm. "Now let me go."

He gave a hard tug that had her spiraling into his chest. "I'll never let you go Emily, not after all the work I've done to get you."

"Work like drugging me?" Emily shot back without thinking.

Jolted, his grip on her lessened and she quickly stepped back. "What do you mean by that?" he asked nervously.

"Nothing," she swallowed hard and backed up a step. "We're over Zander, nothing you say or do will change that." She made a break for the door, reaching the two steps that led to the door itself, she thought she had made it until his hand fell on her shoulder stilling her mid-flight.

"What the hell did you mean by that?" Zander demanded turning her around to face him. He had been careful, so careful that she couldn't know the truth about what he had been up to. If she did know then everything would be over. After all these months he wouldn't be denied, not when he was so close to having everything he wanted.

"Let me go," Emily cried loudly. She didn't like what she saw in his dark eyes.

"Not until you tell me what you meant," he shouted back giving her a shake.

"Is there a problem here?" Reginald opened the door behind them and stepped on the porch. "You need to let her go Zander."

"Stay the hell out of this," Zander ordered.

"Let her go. I've already called security, and the police. The next call will be to her brother. Miss Emily has told me that you are no longer welcomed in this house, or on the grounds. So the next time you do show up we will put the dogs on you," Reginald snapped coldly. "This is the only warning you will get. Now let…her…go."

Zander reluctantly dropped his hands and leveled a glare of pure hate at the butler, before focusing on Emily who had already moved to stand by Reginald. "This isn't over Emily."

"Yes it is," Emily replied shakily. "If you don't leave me alone, I'll talk to Jason," she bluffed. 

Stung Zander backed off, he had only made things worse, he needed to back off and rethink his plan. "Goodnight Emily."

Emily waited until he had disappeared before sagging against Reginald in relief. "Thank you so much Reginald."

"Thank me later right now get inside," he said hustling her in the door. Once it was closed he collapsed heavily against it and began fanning himself.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked in concern.

"Water," he gasped and Emily sprinted into the library to get him some. He drank greedily. "God I never want to do that again."

"You just stay there and take it easy, while I call the police off," she moved for the phone.

"Don't bother I never called them, I was bluffing the whole time." Reginald took another long drink. "Why do you think I'm shaking? I'm not cut out for this. I don't do confrontations very well."

"I think you did very well, you were my hero," Emily moved back to his side. "And I think you need one of Cook's Devils Surprise as a reward."

"I think you're right," he agreed and began moving towards the kitchen. "You need to talk to Jason about Zander, he isn't going to give up."

"I know Reginald," Emily agreed sadly and if she was pregnant he would have even more of a reason to be around.

"Ready?" 

Reginald's question drew her from her thoughts and she turned to look at him. "Yes." She followed him to the waiting car. She couldn't talk to Jason yet, not until she knew whether Zander had raped her or not.

Sometimes life just really sucked.

****

~P.C.P.D.~

"What the hell were you thinking bringing Morgan in here without a warrant?" Commissioner Mac Scorpio demanded. "You know Alexis is going to be all over us. I'm surprised she isn't already here."

"We have a witness that puts him at the scene of the latest murders," Lt. Taggert explained. "We know for sure that 4 of Corinthos couriers were hit in the last 24 hours. I have sources saying that there was at least one more and all of them were killed in the same way. A steel point driven behind the ear puncturing the fluid sack membrane that surrounds the brain."

"And you think Morgan is killing his own people?"

"Not really," Taggert admitted glancing over at a composed and calm looking Jason Morgan who was sitting in a nearby chair. "But you know as well I as I do, that Morgan isn't to bright, you never know what he'll let slip."

"He hasn't let anything slip in years," Mac reminded him.

"Look I have a witness that places Morgan at the scene, a half an hour before the bodies of those runners were found. I'm perfectly in the right to bring him down for questioning."

"Did you have a warrant before you made such a move?" Alexis Davis demanded from behind him.

Mac shook his head slightly when Taggert winced in his direction. "I tried to tell you."

"No warrant was necessary," Taggert replied easily. "Morgan isn't under arrest, he came down here voluntarily for questioning."

"Voluntarily?" Alexis snorted. "Or did you ask in your normal condescending way? By demanding he come or be arrested." Without waiting for a reply she breezed past him towards Jason. "Jason were you read your rights before the Lieutenant removed you from your home?"

"No," Jason replied simply.

"Why did you accompany the Lieutenant then?"

"He said that if I didn't come with him voluntarily that I would be arrested," Jason answered. The only reason he had come at all was because he didn't want Taggert to disturb Rory.

"And what would you have arrested my client for?" Alexis turned to face the Commissioner and Taggert.

"Murder," Taggert said.

"Murder?" She repeated pulling her glasses slightly down her nose to peer at the men. "And who did my client allegedly murder?" She asked the same time Sonny entered the police station.

"In the past 24 hours it has been very dangerous to be an employee of Corinthos or Morgan," Garcia spoke up. "Yesterday the bodies of Ryan Michaelson and Jeff Wilbur, were discovered in alleys. Early this morning two more bodies were found, a Ray Alvarez and Joseph Moroni."

"What does that have to do with my client?" Alexis demanded.

"All four men were killed in the same way, a puncture of the brain, all four men worked for your _clients_," Taggert sneered in their direction. "And I have a credible witness who puts Morgan at the scene of the Alvarez and Moroni murders, that happened about 5:00 am."

"Well I don't know who your witness is, but whoever they are, they're lying." Rory called loudly drawing their attention to her. "Because the only place Jason was at, at 5:00 this morning was in bed," she paused to move inside the squad room, "with me."

****

~Kelly's~

"Open up Lucky," Gia pounded on the door. "I know you're in there and I'm not leaving until you open the door."

"What?" Lucky yanked the door open. "Come on in Gia," he said sarcastically when she moved past him and into the small room.

"I need your help." Gia didn't believe in wasting time with preliminaries.

"With what?" Lucky asked, moving to his desk and closing the lid on his laptop before she could see the information spiraling across the screen.

"Nikolas," she shrugged out of her coat and tossed it on the rumpled bed. "He's making a big mistake and it's all your fault. So you are going to help me fix it for him."

Lucky reached for a warm can of root beer, he couldn't help but wish it was a real beer, he had a feeling he was going to need it.

****

~P.C.P.D.~

Jason tensed at the sound of her voice and showing the first flicker of emotion since he had seen Taggert he shifted in his chair to look for her.

Rory met his eyes then shifted to let a woman in a business suit go past her.

"Marcus, Mac," the woman addressed the officers. "I received a message about you arresting Jason Morgan."

"I didn't arrest him, Dara," Taggert corrected his ex. "He is here for questioning."

"And apparently the Lieutenant jumped the gun once again," Alexis interjected. "Jason has an alibi."

A.D.A. Dara Jensen turned to look at her in shock. "He voluntarily gave an alibi?"

"No I voluntarily gave him one," Rory spoke up. "I would have told Kojak here if he would have bothered to ask. But I'm not surprised he didn't."

Sonny smirked when he heard her call Taggert Kojak.

"And you would be?" Dara jolted in surprise when she saw Rory's face. It was like looking at a ghost.

"Rory Nichols," she didn't bother to hold out her hand. "Jason was with me all night, so I don't know what kind of tale Taggert is trying to sell, but it won't work."

"I have a witness that puts Morgan on scene a few minutes before the bodies were discovered this morning." Taggert addressed his argument to Dara, knowing it was her he would have to convince.

Rory sighed dramatically and leaned against a desk. "You're witness is wrong, or was coached. Kind of like you tried to coach me the other day."

Alexis' eyes narrowed in interest at that remark. "He did what?"

"He interrupted Jason and I on the docks the other day," Rory saw Taggert shift on his feet and knew his superiors hadn't heard about that. "He tried to get me to turn Jason in for attempted murder, or what did you call it?" she asked Taggert. "Assault?"

Alexis began to take some notes. "And why did he want you to do that?"

"I was teasing Jason, we were just playing a game. Apparently Taggert can't tell what a game looks like. He was convinced that Jason was trying to hurt me, and the only reason I didn't speak up was because Jason was threatening me," she paused then delivered the next blow. "Of course it was hard for me to convince him that Jason wasn't trying to kill me, when all he was doing was calling Jason names, trying to provoke a reaction. In fact when Jason and I tried to leave he threatened to arrest him."

"Really?" Alexis' smile turned feral when she focused on Taggert.

"What happened then has nothing to do with an eyewitness that puts Morgan at Kennedy Street at 5:00 this morning." Taggert said quickly.

Dara forced her clenched hands to uncurl, promising herself she would deal with Taggert later, she focused on trying to extricate him from the problem at hand. "Am I to understand that Ms. Nichols claims that Jason Morgan was with her at the same time?"

"I'm not claiming he was with me," Rory lied. "He was with me. There's a difference between a statement and a claim."

"Kennedy Street isn't that far from where you're staying, he could have very easily left the apartment for 30 minutes while you were asleep," Dara theorized.

"Oh believe me I would have noticed if he was gone," Rory drawled with a sly smile. "It wouldn't have been nearly as fun without him there."

Alexis smothered a laugh by coughing at that remark.

"It was very long but fulfilling night," Rory went on. "You see I was in the hospital the night before, so we had reason to celebrate." She had made her way over to stand beside Jason so she was leaning against him. "I am a little tired now though."

Jason kept his expression empty as he looked at Dara. Inside though, he was angry. If the police found out she was lying, she could get in trouble, and he didn't like that. He hadn't left the penthouse, but Rory didn't know that. She was just being Rory.

"I find that a little hard to believe," Dara offered coolly. "Seeing as you are injured, you could have slept at times."

"Never had an all-nighter?" Rory quipped, before raking her eyes up and down the diminutive buttoned-up attorney. "I suppose you haven't. It's a pity, it could definitely improve your outlook. Providing you find the right man," her eyes moved on to a glowering Taggert. "Good luck I think you'll need it."

"Now look here," incensed Dara took a step forward.

"Dara, I'm sure she didn't mean any disrespect," Alexis stepped in front of her and wisely kept the smile from her face. "She has given Jason an alibi, and unless you are willing to call her a liar, I believe it is time for everyone to leave."

Rory grinned cheekily at Sonny when he gave her a warning look, and ignoring Jason's squeeze of her hand she spoke up again. "I can take a lie detector test. I don't mind doing that, of course when I pass it, and I go to the newspapers about the continued police harassment that Jason and I have endured since we got to this town, you might not like the results."

Taggert's eyes narrowed but before he could speak Mac took a hold of his arm and pulled him to the side. With a glare in warning Dara joined them.

"What are you doing here?" Jason whispered.

"We weren't finished with our discussion," Rory replied. "Hi Sonny."

"You certainly know how to make an impression," Sonny observed when Alexis joined them. "I don't think I've seen anybody ruffle Taggert and Dara so quickly."

"It's a gift. What can I say I was born to annoy," she answered glibly. "Do they have anything else on Jason? Or just this lying witness that Kojak has?"

"Seeing as they didn't arrest him, I would say no," Alexis murmured. "Taggert probably jumped the gun again. Jason never would have been arrested anyway, not with just this for evidence, but it is nice that you were able to disprove the eyewitness so quickly."

"I merely told the truth," Rory faced her easily. "Jason wasn't there, he didn't kill these men."

"Mr. Morgan," Dara called. "The DA's office wishes to thank you for your cooperation. We have no further questions for you at this time."

Jason got to his feet and putting his hand on Rory's back he began to move towards the door.

"If we have questions at a later date," Dara continued.

"You will let me know and I will inform my client," Alexis interrupted smoothly, before pausing in front of her. "Now about Taggert's continued harassment of my clients, it seems he has now broadened his approach to include Miss Nichols. I'm tired of warning him, warning his superiors, and warning the DA's office. So this is what I'm going to do. If Taggert follows, berates, arrests, harasses, name calls, or in any other way impedes my clients general well-being in how they live their life, I will take great pleasure in ending his career. Do I make myself clear?"

"Threats wo…"

"It isn't a threat," Alexis corrected Taggert coldly before focusing on Dara again. "We both know I can do it. And Taggert himself is the one who has given me the ammunition to do so. So back him off, because I won't just go after him, I'll go after the police department and the DA's office as well. Are we clear Dara?"

Dara was seething but she kept her face placid. "Yes we are. The next time, and there will be a next time Counselor, we arrest one of your clients, it will be for good. And that is my promise."

"You've been saying that for years," Alexis reminded her before exiting through the gate that Sonny held open for her. "It's about time you found a new threat."

Dara waited until they had left before focusing her temper on Taggert.

~*~*~*~

"Thanks for coming so quickly Alexis," Jason said once they reached the curb,

"I came as soon as I got Francis' message. I was curious as to why you went with him to the police station, but when I saw Rory I understood," Alexis reached inside her briefcase. "This actually saves me a trip, here is your purse Rory. I got it back from forensics late last night."

Rory took the mangled and still damp purse from Alexis. "Thanks, and thanks for inside too."

"It's what I'm paid to do, although you seem to have a knack for it as well."

"The term jailhouse lawyer applies," Rory answered mysteriously. She had been bailing out her uncle for years now.

"Alright," Alexis reluctantly let her curiosity go and nodded slowly. "I need to talk to you soon about the accident," she focused on Sonny. "If you can give me a lift to the PC Grille, I have a few contracts for your review."

"Of course," Sonny answered with a smile. "I'll even treat you to lunch."

"I'm meeting my husband," Alexis replied waiting for the reaction she knew would be forthcoming from her friend.

Sonny's smile faded at the mention of Candy Boy. "When will you develop taste in men?"

"Jax asks me when I will develop taste in the clients I represent all the time. I think you two are so much alike," Alexis teased as she moved towards the limo.

"I think she's soon going to be walking," Sonny mumbled. "Goodbye Rory, nice to see you. Jason I'll talk to you later," his eyes grew serious.

"I know." Jason's eyes were equally serious.

"Bye Sonny, Alexis," Rory called. All too soon for her liking they were in the limo and gone, leaving her alone with Jason.

Rory fidgeted for another minute before moving towards the Durango. "Come on I'll give you a ride."

"Does your shoulder hurt?" He asked falling into step beside her.

"It's okay," she looked up when the door opened and Francis emerged from the vehicle. At least they would have a buffer for a little while. She hadn't quite figured out what to say to Jason. Once she had found out he was in jail her only thought was to get him out of there. Now that he was she wasn't sure where to begin.

"Ms. Nichols," Francis nodded at her before focusing on her companion. "Jason are you going to be with Ms. Nichols for awhile?"

"Yes."

"Is it okay if I pick something up while were downtown then? I'll be back at the penthouse within an hour if that is okay with you?" What they needed was some uninterrupted time alone. And as long as he wasn't there, Jason wouldn't leave Rory alone, of that he was sure.

Rory leveled a glare at Francis but he ignored her.

"That's fine Francis," Jason nodded holding out his hand for the keys. "We'll see you later." Jason waited by the door for Rory to get in.

Rory sighed and took the keys from his hand. "I'm driving."

"I figured," Jason moved to the other door and opened it for her to help her in. Once she was settled he closed the door and hesitated a minute before moving to the other door. He had a feeling that this wasn't going to be pleasant for either one of them.

****

~Clinic~

"Dr. Asner here are the test results on Emily Bowen," a nurse knocked on the door and moved to face the file on the Doctor's overcrowded desk.

"Thanks Helen, why don't you go to lunch before the afternoon rush hits. It's vaccination day, as soon as school is out we will get hit."

"Thanks."

Dr. Asner glanced at her watch she had thirty minutes before her meeting, so putting her feet on the desk she picked up the file. She had only read half a page before the feet went down with a bang and she reached for the intercom. "Helen if your still there I need my handwritten notes on Emily Bowen right away please."

Frowning she paged ahead in the report, this wasn't making any sense at all.


	31. The thing known as Philip

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Babble: I know it has been forever, and ever, since I've updated this story. And all I can say is I'm sorry. But my muse is off of life support so I should be able to update more frequently from now on. I'm not saying every week but hopefully every couple of weeks.

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Gratitude: I just want to thank you all so very much for the replies I've received. I checked them out when I went to post this chapter and was amazed that people were still reading even during this long layover. So thanks you have no idea how much that means to me.

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Disclaimer: I can claim ownership of Jason Morgan. Hey in my delusions he's mine.

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Suck up: You're so great about telling me what you think how about letting me know now? Let me hear it even if it is just to merely yell at me for taking so long to update. **Cough** Like I haven't already heard it **Cough**

Stephanie

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What If…

Chapter 30

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~Vista Point~

Whenever Rory drove anything, whether it was a bike, a car, or even a tank, which she had done once, her mood determined how fast and where she would go. People didn't feel unsafe when she was behind the wheel, although the _oh shit_ handle had been used more than once. But she was always in control behind the wheel of car, even at her most distracted. And distracted was a word that described her to a T at the moment.

Since leaving the police station she'd driven aimlessly, no particular destination or route in mind. Her mind was too busy dreading the upcoming conversation and the things she'd knew she'd have to tell Jason and the stuff she really wanted to keep secret, to pay much attention to where she was going.

Jason as usual, hadn't said a word. She knew he wouldn't unless she made the first move or it look like she was going to wreck. He was content to wait for her to begin. Man she hated that about him. She knew he was angry with her for showing up at the police station. Angry at her for lying to the cops and the DA about him being in bed with her all night. Oh he was angry all right, she could tell that by the way he was sitting, not fully relaxed just an occasional sigh that would slip out. But he would still wait for her to start.

Swallowing the disappointment over the fact she couldn't just keep driving until California, she braked and pulled into an outlook by the cheerful name of Vista Point. Absently wondering if there were a Vista Drive-in nearby, she'd kill for a double Dutch chocolate shake at the moment, she turned the Durango off. Soon the only sound that was heard was the ticking sound of the gradually cooling engine. Jason shifted once, then again, but still he waited.

Cursing her lack of patience and his seemingly infinite supply of it Rory began. "Why don't you let the anger out, so we can get that out of the way first."

"You shouldn't have done that," Jason said sharply.

"You would have rather spent the rest of the day in jail while Kojak fabricated some more evidence against you?" Rory asked pointedly.

"No," he admitted reluctantly, but before she could smile he went on. "That's why I have Alexis as my attorney. She's used to the crap that Taggert and Mac throw at me. She would have gotten me out of there in an hour. That's why I had Francis call her. That's why I was quiet. I was waiting for her to show up and do her job."

Refusing to feel guilty Rory retorted right back. "And I got you out in 5 minutes so what's the big deal?"

"The big deal," he snapped, then took a breath trying to calm down. "The big deal is you lied. What if Taggert or Dara had called your bluff and made you take a lie detector test? What would you have done then?"

"They can't prove I lied. You and I were the only ones in the penthouse last night. No one but us knows you didn't bother to come to bed last night." Rory reminded him. "So unless you suddenly get an attack of conscience I think we're okay."

"I didn't think you wanted to see me," Jason explained. "But that doesn't change the fact you shouldn't have lied."

"A, Alexis would have never let me take a lie detector test. B, if I were forced to take one, by the time they got it setup Sonny would have produced someone to counter the witness that Taggert supposedly had. C, you don't know whether I wanted to see you or not because you stayed downstairs, hiding, instead of coming upstairs and talking to me. And D, what makes you think I couldn't have passed the lie detector test?" 

"Because you were lying," Jason shot back. "And I wasn't hiding. You're the one who issued the ultimatum."

Perplexed she shook her head. "My ultimatum?" 

"You said I had to decide what kind of relationship I wanted to have with you, one of partnership or one with me making all the rules. To me that was an ultimatum."

"So that's why you didn't come to bed last night?" Rory asked in shock.

"I didn't know if you would want to see me," he answered wearily. "I know I hurt you yesterday, first with Francis, then moving, but most of all by not talking to you. I knew you were hurt, but I thought you would be angry too. So I was bracing myself for a fight but then you showed up, and it was different. You were different," he ran a hand over his face. "I didn't know how to react to the coldness, you're not like that normally. So I stayed downstairs."

Surprised Rory focused on him. "God have we really gotten this bad?"

"What do you mean?"

"When did we become these people who don't trust each other? Who don't talk to each other?" Rory demanded. "I can't believe our relationship has deteriorated so far so fast."

"You tell me." Jason's eyes searched her face, and sighed when she bit her lip and turned away to study the horizon. Taking her unwillingness to answer as a sign he went back to the other subject. "You just shouldn't have lied."

"Did I lie?" Rory whispered focusing on him again. "I mean did I? Taggert thinks you went out last night and cold-bloodedly murdered three of your own men. Are you capable of murder? Yes," she saw his eyes grow cold but continued on. "But would you kill three of your own people like that for no reason? No. So technically you're right I guess I lied. But at the same time I was telling the truth, because although you could have killed those men, you wouldn't, not that way."

"I don't know what to say to that." Jason said finally.

"Let it go Jason, it's over with. Kojak will have to try actual police work to solve these murders, and think up another way to frame you," shifting her focus back to the window she waited.

Jason thought about trying again, but he knew there was no way he could win. "I don't like what you did and I don't want you to ever do it again. I don't want you to get in trouble because you want to help me. So no more lying to the cops."

Rory didn't respond just kept her eyes on the view.

Wanting the promise from her very badly, but knowing it was one he would never get, he reluctantly let it drop. "Did you want to talk about last night?"

In spite of herself her free hand tightened on the steering wheel. "Since you already believe I gave you an ultimatum last night, I suppose I have too," she concentrated on forcing her hand to relax. "You walked into some of my baggage last night, baggage created by the thing known as Philip, baggage I didn't even know was there."

"Philip?" Jason repeated and waited for her to go on. It was a name he hadn't heard from her before. But it was obvious from the way she'd all but growled his name that she didn't like him. If her feelings went that deep he wondered why he hadn't heard of him before now. Rory didn't usually keep her opinions about people to herself.

"Can I just go on record here and say how much I really don't want to talk about this?" Rory stalled and at the same time spoke the truth.

Shrugging he tried to let his curiosity go. "Then don't."

God she wanted to take him up on his offer, she really did. She wasn't a coward, and would argue with anyone who called her one. But she didn't think it was acting cowardly to not want to tell the person she cared for the most, what a complete ass she'd made of herself over someone else. Talk about ripping open a wound. But the mere fact that there was a wound to open, even after all this time, made her realize that she had to talk about Philip.

Yet she couldn't stop the groan of disgust, directed mainly at herself from escaping, nor could she sit still while baring her soul. Without saying a word Rory opened the door and awkwardly climbed out of the Durango. The wind was brisk, blowing the new leaves of spring off the trees, but she paid little attention to them. Pacing away from the vehicle, knowing Jason was already out of it and following her, she began walking on a planked path that cut through the woods, no doubt leading to the much-heralded Vista Point. She was still hoping for a drive thru but only a view met her eyes when she came to the opening in the path.

Moving down until she reached a railing that stopped above some steps, she turned around to face him instead of continuing down. Jason stopped about 3 feet away from her but it might as well have been 30 feet. The distance between them felt that huge. The wind tore at her hair, pulling it free of the ponytail, and whipping around her face. The bruise on her cheek looked hideous, the colors were a mix of purple, red, blue, and black, the colors of healing, yet hideous nonetheless. 

Not quite knowing where to begin she chose her words carefully. "I know I came down on you pretty hard last night."

"You were upset. You had a right to be."

"You're right I did then and do now have a right to be mad. You kept me out of the loop about things that directly affected my life and I don't like that. I still don't. Only…" trailing off she began to gnaw at her lip.

"I'm sorry." Wanting to close the distance between them but not knowing if she would like that, he tucked his hands in his pockets and waited.

"I know you are and I know that should be enough for me. But you happened to trample on something I'm really touchy about. That's one of the reasons I reacted like that, or rather, I should say, he's the reason I went off on you like that." Groaning she turned around to study the view. "I can't believe he has power over me. I thought the only one who had any power over me was yo…" she deliberately stopped herself from finishing her thought.

"So who is Philip?" Jason asked with a casualness he didn't feel at the moment.

"The biggest mistake I've ever made in my life, otherwise known as my ex-boyfriend," Rory admitted reluctantly.

****

~Kelly's~

"You want my help with Nikolas?" Lucky asked in disbelief. It had been quite some time since anyone had asked for his help.

"Yes. You created this mess so it's only right that you fix it," Gia huffed.

"Wait," he snapped holding off her tirade. "Back up and tell me what mess I created."

"I'm being sent to Europe on a publicity tour for Deception. One of those 15 cities in 20 days type of things," her eyes lit as she considered all the possibilities and a dreamy expression took over her features, softening them. "It's going to be fabulous we have shoots lined up at Villa's even the palace."

"Still not hearing the mess I made," Lucky prompted her before she went to far overboard.

"The trip would be fantastic if Nikolas would go with me." Crossing her arms over her chest she arched one perfectly shaped eyebrow in his direction pinning him to the floor. "But Nikolas refuses to go. He says he can't leave you."

Lucky choked on his root beer. "Me? Why not?"

"Oh I don't know," Gia began nastily. "Maybe it's because of your habit of drinking yourself into oblivion every night. Or this new habit of picking fights. Or maybe, could it possibly be, your sudden habit of seeing your dead fiancée everywhere including in a woman who has a mobster for a boyfriend?" Infuriated at him for messing up her plans with Nikolas Gia didn't even try to be tactful.

Lucky shifted guiltily at her words. He had let himself get turned into a drunk. He hadn't had a drink in two days now, hadn't been drunk in four days, but Nikolas neither knew that nor would he believe it. Nikolas had been picking up after him ever since Elizabeth had vanished. He knew he owed his brother and Gia a large debt of gratitude for that.

But there were also some things that he wasn't going to apologize for. Namely, convincing Rory that she was in fact Elizabeth. He didn't care whom he had to fight to get that done. He wasn't going to stop until he brought her home to him. The need to do that was the only thing that had made his heart whole in two years.

"Lucky," Gia wailed getting his attention. "Snap out of it Zoner boy. I need you to focus here."

Glaring at her Lucky moved past her and rested a hand on his laptop. "I know I've been out of control lately, but that's all changed now. Nikolas doesn't need to worry I know exactly what I'm doing."

Snorting Gia flounced over to the bed and perched on it. "So you wanted to get shoved into the river and almost drown the other day?"

"What do you want from me Gia?" Lucky asked coldly.

Hearing the chill in his voice, she felt a flash of guilt. "I know life's been hard for you, and I'm sorry, I really am. I just don't want Nikolas to put our life on hold any longer because he's worried about you."

When she let her guard down, Lucky could see what had attracted his brother to her in the first place. She was more than just a pretty face and obnoxious voice. "I don't want that either."

"He's pulling away from me," she admitted softly. "A little more each day. He hasn't touched me in weeks. And it's been longer than that since he's shared anything with me. I'm losing him."

"I don't believe that. Nikolas loves you." Lucky tried his best to reassure her, even though he didn't have a clue what was going on in his half-brother's mind.

"I don't think he does, not anymore, maybe he never did." She whispered her biggest fear. Feeling the sting of tears against the back of her eyes, her back firmed and she banished them. "That's why this trip is so important. We need some time, just the two of us, to get back on track."

"Just the two of you? In the middle of a publicity tour?" He couldn't help but point out the obvious.

Shooting him a cold look she rose regally from the bed. "The two of us meaning no phone calls from Jake at 2 in the morning telling us to come pick up the drunken brother who's passed out on the bathroom floor again." Seeing Lucky flinch caused her to smile slightly. "No endless phone calls from Princess Emily because of another fight with her psychotic kidnapper boyfriend. No tense scenes with his family because Helena chooses to confront him with her whole _'my prince'_ mumbo jumbo. Or Stefan's lectures about the women he chooses to consort with. No histrionics from Laura because you refused to speak with her yet again. No…."

"Okay, okay I get the picture," Lucky cutoff her tirade. At this point he knew the only way he was going to get rid of her was by helping her. "What do you want me to do?"

"Simple don't act like an idiot, at least don't until we're out of town. That means no drinking, no stalking Rory calling her Elizabeth, and for Christ sakes don't tell anyone you think she's your dead fiancée."

"Careful Gia," Lucky warned her briefly. "I'll help you but I won't listen to you dismiss Elizabeth."

Chastened she backed off a step. "Sorry," and she was. "I'm not saying you have to mean what you say. But couldn't you pretend that you believe Rory is Rory? At least long enough to convince Nikolas that you are safe to be left alone?"

Moving his hand back to his laptop and the research that was compiling there he considered her request. Nikolas was convinced Rory wasn't Elizabeth. That could interfere with his plans. Besides Nikolas did deserve to be happy.

"Lucky?"

"I'll talk to him," Lucky agreed finally.

****

~Vista Point~

"Things started innocently enough. Maybe that was the problem right there, he was normal, at least he seemed to be. And I hadn't been around normal before." Rory began abruptly. "I was drawn to that the whole fascination with the unknown I suppose. Your history is limited because you woke up a full-grown man just a few years ago. My history is limited as well. Growing up with Uncle Gabe, always moving on the fringe of mainstream society, just looking for the next BBD," seeing his look she clarified. "Bigger and better deal. Normal was unique to me. With the exception of Gabe, Harry and a few others most of the people I was around were in the life. They were Grifters. It's impossible to ever let your guard down with them."

Smiling wryly she realized that a part of her missed that life. Jason caught her attention when he settled next to her against the rail. She may miss the game at times, but she didn't regret leaving it to travel with Jason.

"I met Philip right after Harry left town on that study abroad thing. Which I still say was just an excuse to study the female population of those countries." Leaving the love life of her best friend for another time, Rory moved back to her story.

"We met at a carwash, how more American could you get? We struck up a conversation and he asked me out. He was nice, good-looking, had a job, a car, and didn't live at home. I mean what more could you ask for? He was also different than any guy I'd dated before. He came from suburbia," she couldn't stop the shudder at that pronouncement. "He had the family, the dog, the picket fence, the curfews growing up, all of the things that were alien to me. Maybe I wanted different. Maybe I was feeling alone because Harry had left. Maybe I just turned into an idiot. I don't know the reason for sure, but we started dating."

Jason wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do. It was strange hearing the woman he was in love with talk about her relationship with another man. It was strange and it shouldn't have been, he'd been in this position before. Robin had discussed her relationship with Stone dozens of times, and he'd had no problem listening to her. But somehow this was different. Rory wasn't Robin. Rory wasn't remembering her first love fondly, she was remembering the pain he had caused her. The more cutting her remarks became the more he realized how hurt she'd been.

"Things were good for awhile, at least from my prospective. There were little bumps in the road, but being new to the whole relationship thing I just thought that was normal. I believed him when he said all relationships have give and take," she gave a mocking smile. "I just didn't realize all the giving was going to be on my side."

"He liked the color green on me so I wore green. Some of my friends were a bit loud and wild, so I didn't see them as much, and never with him. Sometimes my outfit wasn't appropriate so I had to change." Determined that if she had to tell the story she would be honest she refused to sugarcoat her stupidity. "All of these choices were my decisions. Philip never told me what to do, he merely suggested things. He suggested things and at the same time reminded me that this was how relationships in the real world worked. That behavior that had flown on the circuit, didn't fly in normal land."

He was beginning to like this Philip less and less.

"Gradually, subtly, I changed. I wasn't aware I was doing it. The few friends I still saw were, yet I ignored the warnings. I ignored them because Philip was right what did I know about relationships? Much less relationships in the real world? Harry would have righted me, but Harry was out of town. And Gabe, hell Gabe was Gabe, on the lookout for the BBD."

"Did he ever…" Jason hesitated not sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Hit me?" For the first time since she'd begun her story she looked him in the eyes. "I wish he had. If he had hit me, I would have kicked his ass back to suburbia so fast. But he was too clever for that, he knew how to manipulate me, how to play on my fears."

"The girl who could spot a mark at 50 paces, and smell a con at 5 paces. The girl who could break into any place she wanted, into any safe she wanted. The girl who had been raised as close to the streets as you could get without actually living there. The girl who had always looked over her shoulder, so no one could ever snake her." Laughter rang out and it was bitter, cold. "That Girl was played by a 21 year-old prep-monster from suburbia."

"Don't put yourself down." He ordered sharply taking her hand. He couldn't help it, he had to touch her, he needed to touch her.

"I'm only telling the truth."

"You told me the other day that you wouldn't let anyone insult me when you were around. I feel the same about you. I won't let anyone put you down, not even you. You were 18, you didn't know everything, you made a mistake, it happens."

Grumbling under her breath she turned her hand to lace their fingers. "Long story short I didn't see what he was doing for far too long. I was becoming almost Stepford like." It was an exaggeration but since she knew he wouldn't know what she was referring too, it was a safe one.

"What woke you up?"

"My hair," catching his surprised look she grinned. "He started to make suggestions about me cutting my hair."

Jason eyed the dark hair that fell well over her shoulder. He always liked her hair long, his hand could get lost in the softness. And he liked the sight of it streaming over his pillow.

"He thought I needed a new hairstyle. A more mature look." The roll of her eyes told him what she thought of that suggestion. "My moment of clarity came when he suggested that I start wearing my hair up until I came to my senses and cut it," shaking her head forcefully she sent the ponytail into motion. "Anyway that moment of clarity opened my eyes to lots of other things about Philip. Including the fact he was playing around with half the town behind my back."

Knowing her temper and catching the martial glint in her eye he had to ask. "What did you do to him?"

Somehow she felt the glib remark she'd made to Emily about her vengeance wasn't appropriate at the moment, so she decided to find another way to express herself. "Dropped him, then arranged for him to be caught with one of his conquests by her father, and the police. She was underage, out of the country illegally, she also had pigtails," she finished with a frown.

"How long ago was this?"

"I only dated him for about 3 months, and ended things about a month before I met you."

Jason nodded a few things she'd said and done when they'd first met were beginning to make sense now.

"What I said last night about life with Uncle Gabe was true. I didn't have any control over things, over my life, until I took it from him, forcefully, when I was 15." Pulling her hand free she moved a step away and began to fiddle with her sling. "So if you combine that history with the fact that my first real relationship, the first time I gave up control again I was with Philip," she shrugged wincing slightly at the pain that shot through her shoulder.

"Does it hurt very bad?"

"Not as bad as this," Rory muttered under her breath. 

"What?"

"It's fine," avoiding his eyes she went on. "I didn't think I was scarred by Philip. I thought who he was and what he did was in the past. But when you started making my decisions for me, taking away my control."

"It came back to you. Along with all the hurt that Philip had caused you." Jason finished for her.

"Yeah," she admitted softly. "You got caught up in the wreckage that Philip left behind. And I guess you took that to mean I was giving you an ultimatum. Sorry."

"No I'm sorry." Jason moved closer until he could touch her face and traced the vivid bruise that marred her otherwise perfect skin. "I should have talked to you before I did anything."

"Yes you should have." Rory agreed leaning into his hand. "I haven't forgotten what you did, I'm not excusing it either."

"I never thought you were," he inched closer until his other hand rested on her hip before shifting, coming to rest at the small of her back.

Rory watched him in amusement. Telling the truth about Philip had been hard, but a weight seemed to vanish from her mind. She had a feeling that Philip's hold over her was gone.

Once he'd begun touching her he was unwilling to stop. When she leaned against him, letting her guard down, a knot of tension in his stomach began to release. They still had a lot to discuss but it looked like the worst may have passed.

"So you must think we've kissed and made up." Rory commented dryly when his hand began moving in circles on her back.

"I don't remember a kiss," Jason informed her, his eyes alight with amusement and more.

"Yeah well sometimes icebergs move faster than you Jason."

Recognizing the challenging glint in her blue eyes, Jason didn't even bother to reply, he just moved. Bending slightly he brought his mouth down to her soft lips. The movement caught her off-guard and her mouth parted in surprise. He wasted no time in taking advantage of that. His tongue slid past her lips to deepen the kiss. One kiss quickly turned to another and another. His hand shifted on her head, working it's way into her hair, releasing it from the ponytail. It had only been a day since he'd kissed her. Yet it felt forever since he'd tasted her. Tasting the hint of chocolate on her lips his smile grew against her lips.

"What's so funny Morgan?" Rory demanded.

"I see you found your candy stash," he answered with a smirk.

Rory refused to be embarrassed. There was nothing funny about chocolate cravings. "Yeah. And whose bright idea was it to put it on the top shelf of the closet?" Her poke in the chest told him of her displeasure of that. "The peanut butter cups are mine Morgan. There's no place that you can hide them that I won't find them."

"I didn't put them on the shelf," Jason caught her hand and moved it behind her back. Aware of her sling he brought her to rest against his chest gently. "I didn't unpack our stuff I don't know who did." Catching his mistake too late to stop the words he closed his eyes waiting for the explosion.

"You mean some stranger unpacked our stuff?" Rory wrinkled her nose and thought about that. "And you don't know who? Jesus Jason there are a lot of freaks in the world. What if they were some kind of underwear thief?"

Relived that she had decided to look at things humorlessly instead of getting mad at him he played along. "I'm sure Sonny wouldn't hire any klepto's."

"You can't always tell about people." Stepping back she took his hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"We are going back to your penthouse," she informed him yanking hard on his hand to get him to move. "I think we need to check our underwear drawers."

Willing to follow her lead, Jason began to move.

****

~Deception~

"Elton you're killing me here," Carly all but snarled into the intercom. "You know we picked emerald as the signature color. So tell me why the first set of designs are in puse?"

Elton knew an explosion was imminent, in fact he was looking forward too it. As such he looked pointedly at his prized blotter and waited, he waited until he could hear her begin to tap her nails in agitation and temper. "Laura decided that puse would suit Gia better, she ordered the change."

"She what?" Carly screeched. "When the hell did she do that?" She demanded from her office door.

Glancing surreptitiously at his watch. 3 seconds it was a new record. "She made the change last week."

"Then why didn't anyone tell me?" Stalking over to the desk she rested her hands on his immaculate blotter and stared him down. "Why didn't anyone consult with me about the change?"

"Laura felt she knew more about the vision we're trying to achieve from the color schemes," he explained simply.

"Elton this is a woman who only wears black. Whose office is decorated in a mix of white and white. What make you think she even knows what color is?"

"There's no need to get snippy with me Missy. I'm only following my orders," Elton replied huffily trying to ease the talons she called nails off his blotter before she could ruin another one.

"Then follow these orders you little fusspot. Get me the specs in emerald as I originally ordered them." Knowing his weakness she picked up the decorative letter opener and pressed it to the blotter. "And Elton I want the specs by the end of the week."

"Mrs. Corinthos," Elton wailed eyes flickering from her to his blotter. If she put a little more weight on that letter opener then Princess Di's tiara would be marred. He's spent weeks waiting on the blotter to arrive from his cousin. He was prepared to beg if necessary.

"The end of the week Elton." Carly spun around when she heard someone clapping behind her. "Sonny," her expression changed the moment she saw her husband. "What are you doing here?"

"Having fun?" Sonny asked with a grin.

"You," she ordered her husband with a wave of her hand. "In my office," and you she turned on Elton tapping, Princess Di's face for emphasis. "By the end of the week." 

Jazzed Carly moved to her office, closing the door tightly behind her she studied her husband who was leaning against he desk watching her. "So what brings you by?"

"Do I need a reason to visit my beautiful wife?"

"No. But you have one anyway." She knew him too well to be fooled and began to move closer. "Did Laura send up another SOS?"

"I haven't heard from Laura in days." Recognizing the glint in her eyes as she stalked closer he decided to goad her. "I had lunch with Alexis at the Grille, I just thought I'd drop by."

Grimacing, Carly stopped in her tracks, then recognizing the teasing glint in his dark eyes, she began to move again. "I don't blame you for wanting to see me then. I imagine you needed to see a real woman after a meeting with a cold fish like Alexis."

"Carly," Sonny cocked his head in warning.

"Sonny," Carly parroted, unbuttoning his jacket.

"What are you doing?"

"I'd think that was obvious." Running her hands up the silk shirt on his chest, she smiled at him saucily. "I'm seducing you."

Reaching for her hair he pulled on the clip until the blonde locks fell free below her shoulders. Running his fingers through the silk of her hair he smiled wryly. "This is a business office, what if I don't want to be seduced?"

"You," she placed a kiss on his jaw then nuzzled his throat. "Don't," moving her lips up she nipped his earlobe. "Have a choice." Finished she pressed her lips to his.

What was it about her that he found so hard to resist? She infuriated him to no end. She loved to argue with him about the smallest thing. She was insecure and ferociously jealous. But she was also his heart. She had slid inside him so deeply that he simply couldn't picture living without his maddening wife.

Carly tilted her head when he began to nuzzle her neck. She knew she should stop this. That she should have never even started it. She was striving for a professional businesswoman image here. Sleeping with her husband, in her office, in the middle of the day, didn't fit that image, had he been her assistant it would have, but he was her husband. Her eyes drifted open and she was preparing herself to back away when her eye fell on the _Modern Pool_ magazine on her desk. It was open to the picture of the pool table that she was going to buy and her notes were visible in the margin.

Changing her mind abruptly, she stepped free of Sonny and shoved at the papers on her desk sending everything to the floor with a thud. Relieved when the magazine disappeared under a file she hopped up on the desk and pulled her husband closer. "Where were we?" She asked with a grin. Her hands were already busy on the buttons of his shirt, his mouth was already kissing her senseless.

~*~*~

Elton jolted when someone cleared their throat behind him. Straightening he stepped away from the door pulling fussily on his shirt cuffs. Refusing to explain his actions to the guard he breezed by the larger man and moved to the desk. He was entitled to some perks with this job. At least that's how he felt about things.

Johnny kept a sharp eye on the fussily anal man in the gray suit and took his position by the door. Hearing the laughter from inside the room he quickly understood what had fascinated Elton so much he practically had his ear to the door.

****

~P.C. Hotel~

Marin let himself into his suite, shifting the briefcase in his hand he checked the tells he had left to see if anyone besides the maid had been in his room. Everything appeared to be in order but he didn't relax until he had fully swept the room for both bugs and people. Only after he had assured himself that there was nothing of concern he locked his electronic equipment back in its case and turned to the briefcase he'd brought with him.

Setting it on the desk he slipped out his suit jacket, adjusted the gun in its holster and opened the case, pulling out a sheath of bound papers. Habit had him releasing the hair trigger of the stiletto strapped to his arm. The razor sharp blade shot out and he used it to cut the bindings on the papers.

It was unfortunate that Morgan was not in jail at this moment. He'd hoped the witness he'd planted for the cop with the obvious grudge against Morgan would have provided enough damning evidence to take him out of play for a while, but it seemed like the witness had failed. While he would have preferred to have Morgan out of the equation, he was prepared to proceed either way. The diversion he had created in the Corinthos/Morgan camp was working. The buzz on the street was a high indicator of that.

Now it was time for step two. Unrolling the floor plans for the Lakeview, he began to study the diagrams of both Penthouses.

****

~Kelly's~

"Are you sure you can't see me today?" Emily asked desperately. Frowning as she listened she began to chew the polish off her fingernail.

Catching the tail end of her question, and knowing he shouldn't eavesdrop didn't seem to matter to him when he heard the stress in her voice. Drawing back into the shadows Nikolas felt no compunction over listening to her one-sided conversation.

"You can't tell me anything over the phone?" Emily questioned. "Alright I'll be there tomorrow, goodbye doctor."

Nikolas grew even more concerned when he realized she was talking to a doctor. Hearing silence from the courtyard he took a look and moved quickly when he saw it was empty. Making a circle he looked for a clue as to what direction she'd gone. It was time to get to the bottom of things. That much he knew for sure. So it was with a determined stride that he took off for the docks. He was going to get the truth out of Emily even if he had to tie her to a chair until she spilled.

~*~*~

"Thanks Tammy," Emily murmured absently when a glass was set on the table in front of her.

In trying to process what the doctor had told her, but stressing more importantly on what the doctor hadn't said, Emily could barely function. Whatever the doctor had found it was serious enough that she wanted to see her in person to explain it. Somehow she thought that there would be no need for a face-to-face meeting if she were only pregnant.

Smothering a laugh at that thought she couldn't believe what a difference a phone call could make. For weeks now she'd been stressed that she may be pregnant after a night with her ex that she had no memory of. But now she was beginning to think there could be something that much worse wrong with her. She couldn't quite fathom what could be worse than being pregnant after a rape but the ball of knot in her stomach began to grow.

"Earth to Emily."

Blinking in surprise when a hand began waving in front of her face, she brushed at the tears on her lashes, and tried to pull herself out of the downward slide of her thoughts long enough to work up a greeting. "Hey Lucky."

"Where were you?" Lucky asked from his seat across from her. "I was the one that gave you the drink not Tammy, and I must have said your name like 5 times."

"Sorry Lucky I was just thinking."

Resting his elbows on the table he drew closer. "About what?"

"Everything and nothing." Knowing she didn't have to worry about him pressing for answers she changed the subject. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," puzzled at her response he studied her more closely. She was his oldest friend and he knew when she was avoiding something. "What's got you so upset?"

Emily jolted her mouth dropping open in surprise. Since Elizabeth's death Lucky had been pretty much oblivious to everything and everyone. She'd had a glimpse of the Lucky of old during the whole Ted Wilson mess but that had been almost a year ago. Since that problem had worked itself out, Lucky had pretty much fallen into the bottle. But now she could see the sharp glint of awareness in his blue eyes. Suddenly it looked like she was going to have to be a lot more aware of what she said to him.

"Em?"

"Zander and I broke up," it was the only thing her racing mind could come up with at the moment.

"Oh," Lucky quelled the words it's about time, just in time. "You okay with that?"

"I'm the one that broke up with him." Emily, grateful that he believed that was the reason for her unease, decided to broaden her explanation.

"That doesn't mean your not hurting Em. You broke up with Juan as well, but I still saw how much that break up hurt you," he reminded her.

"You were aware of that?" Emily asked in surprise.

Seeing the disbelief in her face Lucky shifted guiltily in the chair. "I don't blame you for being surprised. I have been pretty self-involved over the last few years. But even I knew when you were in that much pain, I just couldn't help you the way I once would have been able too. I was in too much pain myself for that, but I hoped I helped a little."

"You did," she responded quickly desperate to keep him positive.

"I have a feeling I missed more of those moments than I caught though." Regret lined his features. "I know I've let you down a lot in the past couple of years, and I can't tell you how sorry I am for that."

Emily teared up. How long had she waited to hear those words from him? How long had she hoped she would get her best friend back? On the heels of potential bad news she'd just been handed some of the best news she'd ever received.

"Jeez no more tears. I've seen enough of those to last me a lifetime." Lucky shuddered in exaggeration hoping she'd laugh instead and was rewarded with a watery smile.

Blinking back the tears she concentrated on smiling instead. "I'm just glad to have you back Lucky. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Narrowing his eyes he lost the smile. "I also know you Emily Bowen Quartermaine. I know there's something else that has you upset besides kicking Zander to the curb."

As much as she wanted her friend back, a very small part of her wished he would have shown up tomorrow instead of today. It was next to impossible for her to keep anything from Lucky when he was functioning on full cylinders. Spying her potential salvation over his shoulder Emily got to her feet. "Excuse me a minute there's someone I need to talk too." Not giving him a chance to complain she headed for the counter.

"Francis?" When he turned around Emily smiled. "I thought it was you. Is Rory with you? Or did she lose you again?"

Giving her a mild look and seeing Lucky at a table behind her he kept his answer low. "No she didn't lose me. She's with Jason."

"Oh," disappointed her face fell. "I'll give her a call. Do you know where they are?"

"No I don't."

"Okay I'll guess I'll try the penthouse," she turned to go.

"Ms. Quartermaine," Francis stopped her with a light touch on her arm.

"Do you know how strange it is to hear you call me that? You're probably 10 years older than me and I use your first name."

"I'm not ten years older," Francis corrected her automatically. Not knowing if he should do this or not he finally decided to go with his gut. "I know they had a lot of stuff to talk about. Maybe you can give them a little time?"

"She's still mad at him isn't she?" Emily figured it out in a flash.

He didn't confirm or deny, merely shrugged.

"Thanks for the heads up Francis. I'll call her later." Emily smiled again then bracing herself turned to move back to Lucky. She came to an abrupt halt a step later when she noticed Nikolas waiting at the table with Lucky. The brother's looked up at her stalled approach and she couldn't help but swallow hard when she saw a similar look of determination on both their faces. 

This wasn't going to be pretty.


	32. Don't make me regret this

****

Explanation: This chapter has been BUTCHERED to fit the board guidelines. I had incorporated a lot in the questionable scene, and had to take it out but I hope it still makes sense. If anyone would like to read the chapter as it was INTENDED to be read and ENJOYED, please let me know, _stephanie22304@yahoo.com_ believe me I'll send it right out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

****

What If…

Chapter 31

****

~Penthouse 2~

Clothes littered their way through the penthouse like a trail of breadcrumbs. A coat, Jason's, was on the floor just inside the door, her coat, on the first step. His shirt had been discarded on the landing on top of the sixth step. Shoes followed, his then hers, leading a path to the master bedroom. Laughter echoed from the room and down the stairs.

Jason hadn't realized that making love could be so much fun. But a healthy element of playfulness accompanied Rory with everything she did, including making love. It didn't lessen the need any. In fact it seemed to strengthen their connection. The mere fact they were able to be so free while being so intimate was particularly telling.

"Are you laughing at me Morgan?"

Rory's amused voice caught his attention and the smile on his face grew. "I'm just thinking."

Her shirt was being held together by a couple of buttons, her jeans were gone, his were unsnapped by her good hand that was now in the process of unzipping his jeans. Frowning up at him she couldn't help her tart reply. "You sure pick a hell of a time to start thinking."

Amused all over again Jason's hand tightened on her hips settling her intimately against him.

"Somehow I thought it was impossible for a man to think and," while she spoke her hand slid inside his jeans encasing the growing hardness in her hand, "at the same time…"

The rest of her words were lost when his mouth covered hers. A laugh escaped her lips, proving her point about men, she relished the victory for a second before concentrating on kissing. His mouth caressed hers, lightly nipping around the edges of her lips before pressing more urgently. 

Amusement and playfulness, began to vanish as another deeper emotion took hold of both of them. Passion and love, though as yet unstated, grew in both until their movements became more frantic.

His tongue plundered hers with abandon. His hand burying in the softness of her curls, drawing her up to her toes. Shifting he broke the kiss, his lips brushed her temple, tongue tracing the curve of her ear before nipping his way down her neck sending shivers of pleasure through her body. Frustrated by the lack of mobility her sling afforded her she broke contact and backed off a step to pull it off.

Jason's immediately reached out to stop her. "Don't."

Sling on the ground Rory stepped forward and pressed her lips to his stopping the words with a heated kiss. Tormenting them both she broke it after a minute and went back to work on his jeans. "It's not broken Jason, only dislocated. As long as I don't have to do a floor routine my arm will hold up okay." 

Working the jeans free of his hips she took his briefs down at the same time, getting quickly to her feet she pressed first one kiss to his chest then another. Taking him in her hand she massaged him. "You did say I'd get to be on top sometimes didn't you?"

The strange mixture of amusement and arousal shouldn't go together yet as amused blue eyes met aroused blue eyes, they did. "I remember saying that."

Shifting her grip on him he groaned against her hair and slumped against the door as her mouth roved his way over his face, his jaw. Allowing her to lead he let her turn him and began backing towards the bed. Anticipation and passion was building, his mouth was looking for hers again when his foot caught on something and he staggered. He might have been able to right himself, if Rory hadn't been plastered against him.

Jason landed hard on his ass, his back hitting the edge of the mattress. Trying to cushion Rory's fall the air came out of him in a whoosh, when she landed hard on him. The stunning surprise at falling quickly faded into concern that she might be hurt. "Rory?"

Laughter rolled out of her, easing the tension in his stomach and dancing blue eyes met his. "I'm going to start calling you grace," she murmured. 

Grinning reluctantly he shifted his hold on her preparing to lift her to her feet but Rory had other ideas. Moving quickly she straddled his hips, one knee on either side of him. Taking his mouth again in a kiss. His grip shifted, and his hand slid up her thigh, slipping under the shirt coming to rest on her hips. One finger slid under the edge of her underwear. He had never known just how wonderful and torturous friction could be. Each movement she made on his lap, made him want to groan. Part of him wanted to stop her movements, another part wanted to bury himself inside of her.

She tasted his lips, stroking them with her tongue, in light strokes, moving tantalizing slowly from one corner of his mouth to the other. The combination of her teasing whisper of a caress against his lips, mixed with the grinding so intimately against him, pushed him to the edge. 

His hands moved up, to undo the last of the buttons, to push the shirt off of her, but she drew back to unclasp the front hook of her bra and brought his hands up to cover her breasts. Leaning down, he took the full weight of her breasts in his hands when she bent for his mouth again. She sucked on his bottom lip, taking it into the heat of her mouth. Her tongue sliding against his lips was the final straw.

His hands tightened on her breasts, manipulating the soft flesh there, teasing the nipples into a point. Gasping in pleasure, her mouth opened and he quickly took advantage, their tongues dueling for control, her hands tightened convulsively on his shoulders.

"The bed," Jason grasped breaking the kiss, searching for the strength to get off the floor but Rory shook her head.

"Beds are overrated," she murmured before her mouth began moving slowly against his.

****

~Deception~

"If you keep smiling like that someone might think you're happy." Carly warned her husband while running her fingers through her hair trying to tame the disarray.

"Really?" Sonny pulled on his coat yet kept the grin on his face.

"Happy and Sonny Corinthos. Those are words that just don't go together." Moving casually Carly picked up the papers from her desk, being careful to keep the _Modern Pool_ magazine out of sight. "So if you don't want to lose your image, I'd lose the grin there sport."

"Sport?" He frowned in her general direction. "You've been hanging around Luke too much."

Carly threw her pen at him. "Don't ever compare me to Luke."

Recognizing the warning signals and not feeling like fighting with her at the moment, Sonny changed the subject. "I wanted to ask you what your day was like tomorrow."

Mollified somewhat but still angry at the remark Carly sat at her desk and began to put the papers back in order. "I'm swamped. A new perfume designer we've been trying to sign is flying in from Milan to meet with Laura and I. I am not going to lose this one, even if I have to lock Laura on the roof again, he's getting signed before he leaves."

"Oh okay," Sonny nodded and reached for his coat.

Antenna alerted when he didn't immediately jump on her for her threat, Carly looked at him and saw the sadness in his eyes. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. I need to get going."

"Sonny," Carly was out of her seat and in front of him before he took more than two steps. "What did you come here to ask me?"

Hesitating Sonny searched her dark eyes for a long time and debated with himself. Why had he come here? He'd always handled things like this alone, or with Jason if he was in town, so why was he here thinking about dragging Carly into things? Too much information with Carly meant he was doing damage control, too little information meant the same thing. He was always walking a tightrope with what he could tell her and couldn't. Normally this would fall into something he couldn't tell her. Not because he didn't trust her, but because he didn't want to worry her.

But somehow with everything he saw Jason going through because of Rory's accident, and the subsequent problems because of his actions, it made him rethink his position. He found himself wanting to confide in her, and even more surprising, wanting to take the comfort he knew she would offer if she only knew what was going on.

"Sonny?" The longer he was quiet the more concerned she grew. For once she didn't yell or demand, she just asked. "Where did you want me to go tomorrow?"

"A funeral," he whispered.

Taking his hands, in hers Carly swallowed the fear the answer provoked and kept her eyes on his. "Who?"

"You don't know him. Hell I didn't really even know him. I only met him twice maybe three times. He was a young kid, who made the mistake of working for me and I can't get his face out of my head." Or the image of Manny's sister, Sister Mary Elena either. "I shouldn't even be going and I have no right to ask you to go with me."

"You always have the right to ask me," Carly corrected him, stepping back she moved to the intercom. "Elton I need you to clear my schedule for tomorrow. I have somewhere to be with my husband."

__

"Mrs. Corinthos what about Monsieur Davida?"

"Let Laura deal with him, after she blows it I'll call him next week and smooth things over with him one on one, just like it should have been done this whole time. Now clear my schedule." She ordered.

"Carly…"

"What do you say to a nice meal with just you, me, and Michael?" Carly interrupted, shoving some files in her briefcase before moving towards her coat.

"What are you doing?" Sonny took the coat automatically when she held it out, and helped her into it.

"Leaving early, I'm the boss I get to do that." Carly kept it light but she was well aware how big of a step her husband had just taken, and she wasn't about to let him backslide. Between Jason admitting she mad sense earlier, to Sonny admitting he needed her with him, and confiding in her, it had been one of the best days of her life. Linking her arm through his she started them to the door. "Tell me about him, at least what you know."

Sonny took a step, then another, at the doorway he began to speak. "His name was Manny, Francis brought him into the organization…"

****

~Kelly's~

Emily reluctantly began moving towards the table again, her eyes followed Francis' longingly as he disappeared out the door. She would have liked to escape as well, but had a feeling she wouldn't be able too. "Hey Nikolas." When he stood to pull out her chair she was very careful not to touch him. "What's going on?"

"I've been looking for you." Nikolas informed her. He'd made it all the way to the almost empty Corinthos/Morgan Warehouse before coming to the conclusion that she'd probably went inside Kelly's.

"You found me," and wasn't she so lucky? Blinking she shifted her focus to Lucky. "So what are you going to do now that your…"

Her cheeks reddened and Lucky finished the question with a grin. "Back in the land of the living?" If possible she turned even redder. "I don't know. Probably get back into computer work. I'm tired of moving boxes in a warehouse."

At first Nikolas had only half-listened to Lucky. He was focused on getting answers out of Emily. But at those words he focused on his brother. One look at the determined expression on his face told him that his brother was serious. His eyes darted to Emily in question who nodded slightly.

"Quit with the looks, I'm in the room, I'm sitting right here, it's not like I can't see you two," Lucky groused.

Nikolas couldn't help it he had to make the shot. "You've been in the room several times in the past few years it didn't mean you saw us."

"Nikolas," Emily tried to stop him. The last thing she wanted was for Lucky to fall again.

"It's okay Emily, he's right," Lucky admitted softly. "I could say I'm sorry forever and it won't change things or make them better. All I can say is I'm back now, and I'm here to stay."

"I want to believe you," Nikolas answered slowly. "You have no idea how much I hope your telling the truth and I hate to question it but…" Catching Emily's eye she nodded so he continued on. "I have to wonder what brought about this sudden change in your attitude."

Lucky saw Emily brace herself for his reply and saw the way Nikolas' eyes narrowed in study. He remembered his promise to Gia and knew this was a perfect opportunity to capitalize on it. "I finally woke up."

It was Emily's turn to press. "Does this have anything to do with Rory?"

"Yes," he saw her shoulders slump in defeat and felt a large dose of regret. "Seeing Rory made me realize how bad I'd let myself get. Elizabeth would have hated what I've let myself get turned into. She would have hated it even more if she knew it was my grief over losing her that sent me to that place." The words came easy to his lips because he believed them with all his heart. Elizabeth would hate what had happened since her disappearance.

"So you don't think Rory is Elizabeth anymore?" Nikolas asked and barely hid the wince when Emily kicked him. He glared at her, and she glared right back but neither one spoke, both waited to see what Lucky would say in response.

Concentrating on the scratched up table in front of him as if it held the meaning of life Lucky began to speak. "Seeing Rory made me take a long look in the mirror, and I didn't like what I saw looking back at me. I saw someone who had been in so much pain that he chose to deaden it with alcohol instead of dealing with the loss. I never realized how big of a coward I really was. I couldn't handle losing her so I hid."

"You're handling it now Lucky," Emily touched his hand trying to offer comfort.

"I'm trying," Lucky raised his eyes to her and smiled.

"You didn't answer the question," Nikolas pressed. "Do you still believe Rory is Elizabeth?"

Lucky could see the hope and concern in Emily's eyes. Nikolas' eyes were cool as his expression, and Lucky knew he was being dissected, his every move and answer was being weighed as to the truth. He met Nikolas' eyes squarely and lied. "No. I'd give anything in the world if she were. But Elizabeth is dead, I just have to live with that."

From the corner of his eye he could see Emily's shoulders slump again, this time in relief. But Nikolas' expression never changed. "I'm not going to lie, it's hard to see her. And I'll probably get that flash of hope that she is Elizabeth every time I do see her, but hopefully that will fade with time. I'm not going to stalk her or Jason anymore."

Sighing Nikolas shook his head breaking the eye contact. "I hope your telling the truth Lucky. For your sake and theirs I hope your telling the truth."

****

~Penthouse 2~

Rory sunk lower in the tub until the bubbles crested her shoulders. The damp heat, of the hot water soothed her muscles until she could have purred. Easing even lower she absently wondered if anyone would miss her if she just took up residency in the decadently large tub. Alone in the spacious bathroom, that was larger than her Uncle's living room, she finally relaxed her bruised and stretched muscles. She wasn't as over her trip over the cliff as she had been acting all day.

The discussion with Jason had gone better than she had hoped. Although she hoped the whole baring her soul thing wouldn't become a habit, she had to admit it had been necessary. They weren't completely back on track, but they were a lot closer than they were four hours ago. Inch by inch the tension seeped from her body, if she kept this up, in another 48 hours she might be willing for round two with Jason.

Testing her shoulder she raised it from the water until it was shoulder height. There was a twinge, okay an ache but it was more mobile than it had been that morning. Pushing a bit farther she tried to raise it over her head and barely managed to stop the groan before it escaped. If Jason knew she was still in pain he'd be all over her to take a pain pill. Not, that she didn't like him all over her, but she preferred to be conscious when it happened. She wouldn't take a pill, on that she was certain, she could be just as stubborn as him. Tilting her head back under the water she began the awkward process of trying to wash her hair.

~*~*~

Closing the refrigerator door with his foot, Jason moved to the counter in search of a bottle opener. Thanks to Sonny they wouldn't starve, but they were going to get real tired of peanut butter sandwichs. A well-stocked refrigerator didn't mean anything when neither one could cook. Canned food was his specialty while frozen food was hers. Neither, sounded very appealing at the moment. His stomach had been reminding him that it hadn't been fed much, for the last hour or so.

Taking a long pull on his beer he left the kitchen in search of a phone book. Moving to the desk in the living room he opened a drawer but it was empty, he struck gold with the second drawer he opened. Alexis must not have known how to cook either because it looked like she had a menu for every restaurant in town. Setting them on the desk he decided to wait to see what Rory wanted.

"That better not be the last beer Morgan."

"It's not," Jason replied turning to find a still damp Rory standing on the stairs. The long sleeved collared shirt, his if he wasn't mistaken, hung on her slender form, and when she began to walk closer he could see the damp spots forming because of her dripping hair. "I thought you'd died in there."

"I merely decided that since I'm stuck in the lap of luxury I might as well abuse the facilities," she informed him haughtily. Taking the bottle from his hand she took a long swallow.

"Have you taken anything?"

"No I'm pill free so I can drink," she handed the bottle back. "Wipe the frown off your face, I'm fine."

Jason did his best to do as he was told and found a towel shoved in his hands when he managed to comply.

"Can you give my hair a good dry?" Rory asked. "I would but it's a bit awkward with my arm." Turning away so she wouldn't have to see the look her words caused she moved for the couch and settled into it's softness.

Keeping up with Rory had always been a problem. One minute she was dismissing her injury and the pain as not even being there, and the next she was asking for his help. Somehow he knew the puzzle that was Rory was never going to be fully explained to him.

Feeling the cushions depress with his weight behind her, Rory let out the breath she'd been holding. He wrapped the towel around her hair tentatively and carefully began to dry her hair, being very cautious with the bruising he knew was there. His touch was gentle, soothing, somehow she knew it was soothing for both of them. The simple action of him drying her hair was necessary for them both after the last couple of days. He'd put the towel down and was now working his fingers through the curls trying to untangle the quick to snarl ends. Maybe it was time for a haircut.

"I hope I got all the conditioner out," Rory murmured after a harder than normal tug. "That's the problem with washing your hair in a bath, you never know if you get all the soap out."

"I know what your doing."

Hearing the serious tone in his voice her first instinct was to joke it off. "I know what I'm doing too. I'm sitting."

"I didn't realize it at first but earlier on, every time I tried to take off your shirt, you distracted me," Jason continued.

"I seem to remember you liked my distraction," again she tried to deflect.

Refusing to be sidetracked, Jason reached for the comb she'd brought with her and began to work it through the thick hair. "You disappeared in the bathroom so quickly, saying you wanted to bathe and didn't need any help."

"News Flash Morgan I've been bathing myself for years," Rory reminded him a little sharply.

"Now you're down here wearing shorts and one of my long-sleeved collared shirts, with your arm carefully back in the sling."

"I didn't realize my wearing your shirt would make you so weird," Rory began huffily. "Just let me go change."

"Into what?" His hands tightened in her hair when she tried to pull away. "You don't have any collared shirts that aren't dress ones, and you need a collared shirt. That's why you're wearing shorts, and long sleeves, because you want the collar."

"And oh mighty Kreskin why is that?" Rory demanded.

"Because," his breathe was warm on her neck causing her to shiver. "You're trying to hide the bruises from me." Testing her he put a finger against the collar and pulled on it slightly, when she tensed he let it go.

Knowing she was busted Rory relaxed against him abruptly catching him off-guard. "You got so weird before."

Shifting slightly into a more comfortable position he questioned her. "What do you mean?"

"The other day you got all alpha male on me, because of a mark on my wrist," she explained softly. "The bruises on my neck, on my shoulder, let's just say their more than just a mark. I didn't want you getting weird on me again, or worse shut down on me. I don't have the energy to joke or fight you out of it at the moment."

"You're right I'm going to hate it when I see the bruises, just like I hate the fact you were hurt at all. But I'd hate it worse if you keep trying to hide things from me."

Considering his words she leaned her head back against his chest and covered his hand with hers. "My arm hurts, although it's sort of settled into a tolerable ache. The bath, with that decadent tub helped take a lot of the aches out of my body. My head's a lot clearer, just a little headache." She felt him tense with her words and had to force herself to go on. "I'm not used to having someone worry about me. I'm used to handling things on my own. So if I don't let you in, I'm not trying to punish you, it's just I'm used to doing things for myself. And maybe a part of me thinks I'm protecting you. It's my pain, there's nothing you can do to help me with it, all you can do is feel guilty or worry, so why tell you?"

Her words washed over him and made a lot of sense, he felt the same himself. And had done the same to her on more than one occasion. "It's hard caring so much about someone else isn't it?"

"Honestly?" Rory asked feeling his nod she went on. "Sometimes I think I'd rather be tossed off a cliff, it would be a hell of a lot less painful."

"Less risky too."

"I guess I'm drawn to risks," she sighed dramatically. "You were a risk."

"Because of Philip?" Now it was her turn to tense. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was."

"You were young."

"I was stupid."

"You were naïve."

"I was arrogant and thought I knew everything."

"You were 18 and found out you didn't know everything."

"You're not going to let me beat myself up over this are you?"

"Do you remember when I told you how I saw both Carly and Robin at the same time and I ended up hurting all of us?" Jason asked quietly.

Rory shifted so she could see his face. "You didn't really realize what you were doing could hurt them until it was too late. You were young and you didn't really know any better. Everything was new to you, including your feelings you didn't know how to handle them."

"Exactly my point."

She opened her mouth to correct him only to shut it in a huff. "That was sneaky," Rory grumbled only to groan when someone knocked on the door. "Its either a phone call or a door knock. We so need to leave town."

Jason couldn't help but agree.

"Mr. Francis," Rory greeted him with a genuine smile. "I didn't know you were still working. You must be bored out of your skull."

"I found this on the floor," Francis held out her purse.

"Thanks, I was a little," feeling Jason come up behind her she grinned again, "distracted when we got here."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that her and Jason had obviously made up. For that he was glad. At least something good had come out of this long and frustrating day.

"I found something of yours too Mr. Francis," Rory remembered suddenly heading for the closet.

"Is everything arranged?" Jason asked quietly.

"Yeah, all the arrangements have been made," Francis answered just as quietly.

"I found this wallet yesterday," Rory approached them carrying a brown wallet. "It belongs to a Francis Xavier Carnivale age 27," feeling Jason's frown she looked at him and grinned before handing off the wallet. "I meant to give it to you earlier but I forgot. I have to admit that's the first driver's license photo I've seen that actually looks like a person. Even Jason's makes him look like a druggie or a prison escapee."

Francis' eyes flicked from Rory's grin to the frown on Jason's face and a memory came to him. A memory of Rory jostling him in the elevator the day before for no apparent reason. His eye dropped to her sling. Had she picked his pocket with one arm in a sling?

"I know what a hassle going to the DMV can be," Rory went on seemingly oblivious to his speculation. "Speaking of which I better check my own purse, there's no telling what Kojak kept."

Pocketing his wallet Francis thought of the 3 hours he'd spent at the DMV that afternoon to get a replacement driver's license with a photo that bore no resemblance to him. Not to mention the time on the phone canceling his credit cards, and paying the additional fine to the PCPD because of the ticket he'd received the day before for driving without a license, and his frown in her general direction became more pronounced.

Reading the warning signs in his and Jason's eyes Rory took her leave of them with a final grin and moved toward the couch, already digging in her bag. "Where the hell is my phone?" She muttered under her breath.

Shaking his head and knowing full well she'd swiped Francis' wallet Jason changed the subject. "What time tomorrow?"

Instantly serious all thoughts of his missing wallet disappeared at the question. "The service is at 1:00 at St. Vincent's. I needed to ask you who you wanted to be on Rory when I can't be, like tomorrow and the rest of the tonight? Sister Mary wants me at the viewing tonight. If that's okay."

Knowing Francis had been close to Manny Jason nodded quickly. "Take as much time as you need. As for additional guards," he could all but feel Rory's eyes on him and knew they still had a lot to work through. "You're more up to date on who's good and who isn't, so I'll let you choose. When I'm here we don't need anyone else, and when she's here at the penthouse she's safe. I think the only time she'll need a guard is when she goes somewhere." The look had turned into a glare he knew that without looking. "But she and I need to talk about some things first so I'll let you know." 

"Okay," Francis nodded. "I'll be leaving then goodnight."

"Wait," Jason called awkwardly he wasn't good at this sort of thing but he made the effort. "Is someone going with you?"

Seeing his unease Francis couldn't help but smile. "Johnny and the rest of the crew will be there. Manny is … was well liked. Goodnight Ms. Nichols."

"Goodnight Mr. Francis."

Jason closed the door and hesitated in front of it for a long minute, preparing himself for the battle he knew was coming. For a few hours he'd let himself forget all that had happened in the last few days. It was funny how the grief of a friend could remind him. He jolted slightly when Rory slipped an arm around his waist and hugged his back. Resting his hand on hers he took the comfort she offered. "We need to talk."

Resisting the temptation to groan by burying her face in his back Rory hugged him once more then drew back. "I know," she admitted mournfully and turned back to the couch. "Let me have it."

****

~P.C.P.D.~

"Whitey where the hell have you been?" Taggert burst through the door of the crime lab and yelled the question at the bespectacled doctor.

Whitey glanced over at the intrusion then turned back to his beakers. "Ever heard of knocking LT?"

"Don't change the subject I've been looking for you for hours, I've been paging you for hours," Taggert berated the man. "Where the hell were you?"

"Out," Whitey answered nonchalantly and went back to his chemicals.

Drumming his fingers on a desk Taggert waited for more information. The drumming got louder when he realized he wasn't going to get any more details. "What did you have a sale on 80's music you had to get too?" Taggert borrowed Alexis' slam.

"Nope that was last week," Whitey answered with a smirk, baiting the LT was an interesting pastime almost as interesting as baseball.

Whitey began to hum under his breath and Taggert knew that wasn't a good sign. It meant two things. One he was going to have another song in his head for hours, and two, he'd pushed Whitey before he'd even had a chance to ask his first question. Going against every instinct he had Taggert tried to correct the damage he'd inflicted.

"I'm sorry Whitey it's been a long and frustrating day," Taggert began, when he heard a snort behind him he turned to glare at his very amused partner, Alex Garcia. "I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"Nope you shouldn't have," Whitey agreed before pouring a little bit of clear liquid into a beaker that was already purple.

"It's the Nichols' case, it's got me stymied," Taggert tried a smile that he knew looked ghastly. "I could sure use some of your input on that."

Humming under his breath Whitey merely nodded. 

"So do you have anything else for me?" Taggert asked.

"Maybe."

Knowing his partner's intent Garcia moved quickly, stepping in front of him before he could hit Whitey. "We really need something Whitey. Taggert seemed to think you might have something because of what you didn't release to the Nichols' girl attorney."

"The LT is on to something Garcia. I'm impressed he must have eaten his Wheaties today." Whitey added a little bit of red to his chemical concoction and it began to bubble in the beaker.

"What's so important about her cell phone?" Taggert couldn't hold back any longer.

"Do you see tickets in my hand LT?" Whitey asked calmly. "Because I sure don't."

"Do you want to be arrested for blackmail?" Taggert demanded in frustration and Garcia groaned.

Whitey raised his head to stare him down and Taggert shifted on the balls of his feet when confronted with half of the man's eyes peering at him from over the lenses of the coke bottle glasses. Those eyes just weren't natural. The half above the lenses was cool and assessing, the half behind the lenses were enlarged and unnatural looking. He could withstand neither.

"Here," grumbling Taggert pulled out the tickets to the subway series that he'd spent a week's pay on and slapped them down on the counter next to Whitey.

The tickets disappeared quickly into one of the many pockets in Whitey's pristine lab coat and he pushed away from the table to move to another one that held a cell phone. "This is her cell phone."

Garcia eyed it dubiously, the phone was in pieces. "Did it get wrecked in the crash?"

"No I tore it apart, it was only damaged in the crash," Whitey informed him coolly. "I didn't need a warrant because the casing was cracked so the interior was exposed," he answered the question before it could be uttered.

Taggert didn't even bother to question if Whitey's story was accurate, knowing the man as well as he did, it probably wasn't, but who was he to argue. Whitey was too smooth to get caught. "What did you find?"

"This." Whitey held up a small silver piece of electronics with a pair of tweezers and held it out for them to study. It was thin, hardly thicker than a piece of paper and smaller than a thumbnail.

"What is it?" 

"LT," Whitey clucked his tongue. "I'm disappointed in you. Have you let that subscription I gave you to _Mercenary Monthly_ lapse already?"

Garcia snorted and Taggert leveled a glare at him. "Whitey?"

"What does it look like?" Whitey began his lecture with a question.

"A dime that had been flattened by a tank?" Garcia offered after a minute, earning himself a glare in the process.

"A bug?" Taggert tried desperately.

Whitey beamed at his prized pupil. "Exactly it's a bug."

Garcia whistled. "I've never seen one that looked like that before."

"You probably won't again either," Whitey informed them superiorly. "This is high dollar work. The PCPD can't even afford the tax on one of these babies."

"What about the FBI?" Taggert asked.

Whitey didn't even try to hide his disgust. "The FIBBIES wouldn't know how to work one of these if they had the manual and the creator talking in their ear every step of the way."

Taggert grimaced he'd forgotten Whitey's well-known hatred for the FBI. "Then who?"

"You know any reason why Spookland might be interested in this Nichols' chick?" Whitey asked after another minute of pouting.

"The CIA?" Garcia asked.

"Maybe but their not the only spook in alphabet soup land," Whitey reminded him before moving back to his original table.

"We ran her history she's clean, so why would there be a bug in her phone?" Garcia wondered aloud. "I can see Morgan's possibly but hers?"

"Whose to say that there isn't a bug in Morgan's? Maybe there is. How would we know?" Taggert asked.

"Does that make you feel left out LT? Knowing someone else might be listening to your boy's phone calls when you can't even get a warrant to place a wiretap on Corinthos' phone?" Whitey asked nastily. He hadn't forgiven either the FBI mention or the baseball tickets.

"Someone's in trouble with teacher," Garcia whispered loud enough for Taggert to hear.

"Is there anyway to trace the bug?" Taggert asked ignoring Garcia for the time being.

"No," Whitey turned back to his concoction and checked his notes before adding a green liquid that caused the stuff in the beaker to hiss and turn black.

Eyeing the beaker warily Taggert moved closer. "Is there anything else?"

"Could be," Whitey admitted and waited.

Knowing he had to come up with the answer or endure another 2-hour lecture Taggert thought fast. "Is the bug still active?"

Whitey grinned widely showing off his dentures. "Yes, it just needed drying out. Still works like a charm, of course it would if we had a receiver." He tugged hard on his ear. "Imagine if we had a receiver as well, we could hear everything too."

Not liking the way this conversation was heading Garcia moved to one of the other desks to look at the microscopes. Sometimes it was better to not know all the details.

"It's a pity we don't have a receiver," Taggert played along. "Or someone smart enough to build a receiver."

Whitey bristled under the insult. "Yes what a pity. Anyway her phone is cleared, it will be put back together and released in a half an hour."

"Whitey what would it take to build a receiver?"

"A warrant."

"What else?" Taggert pressed.

"I haven't given it much thought," Whitey poured some more liquid into the mix.

"Why don't you think about it and get back to me," Taggert offered coolly before turning for the door.

"You know my thought processes work a lot quicker when I'm looking at a Roger Clemmons Rookie card," Whitey called after him and was pleased to see Taggert flinch.

"You had to piss him off."

"Shut up Garcia," Taggert hissed.

"If you hadn't jerked him around over the ball tickets he wouldn't be hitting you up for something else," Garcia reminded him.

Taggert wanted to hit his friend for being right.

"Think about it LT," Whitey drawled before lifting the bubbling mixture to his mouth and taking a swallow. "Ohhh just like mom's."

****

~Penthouse 2~

The only way Jason knew how to be was blunt, so he let her have it. "There's a chance that Sonny and I weren't the primary targets with everything that's happened. I think there's a good chance you were the target all along."

She hadn't been expecting that and the disbelief showed on her face.

"It's a theory but I think it makes sense." Jason settled beside her and took her hand. "We know that someone deliberately pushed your car over the cliff. At the same time someone replaced a rope at the warehouse causing a pallet to fall on me, and finally at the same time someone pushed Lucky Spencer into the river and threw a cargo net over him trying to drown him."

Surprised at the news and uneasy at the direction the conversation was heading Rory shook her head.

"The only link I can see between all of these things is the fact that the night before the accidents I asked Benny to dig up everything he could on the death of Elizabeth Webber."

Stung Rory jerked her hand away and stood up. "What the hell does she have to do with anything?"

"Elizabeth is the only link," Jason kept his tone reasonable even as her agitation grew.

"Who says there's a link? Why does what happened with Lucky have to have anything to do with us?" Rory demanded uneasiness fueling her anger. "How could anyone know you would be under the pallet when the rope snapped?"

"They couldn't," Jason admitted.

"And you've seen first hand how weird Lucky is, someone, anyone could have tried to kill him, for any number of reasons."

"That could be true," he conceded her point.

"And maybe my little trip was deliberate but that doesn't mean it had anything to do with Elizabeth Webber."

"We found bugs in our room at Jake's. Very high dollar bugs. Someone broke in our room and left you a note to trick you out of town, to the cliff where you almost died," Jason began a methodical recitation of the facts.

"Alright I'll give you that one, my accident wasn't one."

"It's been quiet here. No one is trying to move in on Sonny, no one is looking for me. Benny's too good, the grapevine is too big, I would have heard something if I was being targeted."

Mind racing Rory searched for something, anything that could explain things. "What about the murders of your men, the 3 deaths that Kojak tried to pin on you."

"Five men," he corrected softly.

"What?"

"Five men have died in the past 36 hours. Taggert only knows about 4. The fifth is Manny, Francis' friend."

"Jesus," the word slipped out before she could stop it and Jason flinched. Moving closer she sat on the coffee table in front of him and took his hand. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I never even met him until yesterday, when he died," the way his hand tightened on hers belied the words.

"Don't all the murders tell you that this could have nothing to do with me? I may have been born to annoy but I haven't pissed off someone enough they'd kill."

"It's the way they died." Unaccustomed to sharing he didn't know how to go on, but when her eyes remained steady on his, he found a way. "There was no point to the deaths. Nothing was taken, some hadn't even made a pickup yet. They were all killed in the same way, probably by the same man. It doesn't feel like it was directed at me or Sonny it feels like…"

"What?" Rory asked in apprehension knowing she wouldn't like the answer, because Jason's feelings were rarely wrong.

"It feels like a distraction," he finished coolly. "Like they were killed because someone wanted my attention elsewhere. And the only other thing I was looking into was Elizabeth Webber's death."

"I know who I am," Rory whispered quickly. "What does Sonny have to say about your theory?"

"Not much. He's still investigating all the angles," Jason admitted.

"The reason we're in this town at all, is that one of the angles he's investigating?" Rory pressed.

"Yes," tilting his head he studied her trying to get a fix on her emotions. "Are you okay?"

"For someone who just found out that someone tried to kill her and also that my boyfriend thinks I'm someone else, I think I'm doing remarkably well. In fact you might say I'm peachy."

"I didn't say I thought you were someone else," Jason corrected her.

"And I said that I know who I am and it isn't Elizabeth Webber. So you better find a new theory because I'm not buying that one." With those words of warning she stood up and headed for the kitchen. "I need a drink."

"Oh man," Jason collapsed back on the sofa with a groan.

****

~Kelly's~

"I meant what I said before," Lucky commented out of the blue.

Nikolas reluctantly took his eyes off Emily who was at the payphone and looked at his brother. "You meant what?"

"That I'm better. I haven't had a drink in days and although the urge is still there, it's not near as strong as it once was," Lucky explained.

"I'm relieved to hear that."

"I wanted to thank you. I know the last 2 years haven't been easy on you, picking up after me had to be brutal," Lucky kept his focus on the table. "I'm surprised you didn't cut your losses and bail. No one would have blamed you."

"We're family Lucky. Brothers. We may not have always liked that fact but we can never change it. Families stick together," Nikolas explained honestly. "And besides we're also friends. I don't have very many friends so I wasn't about to lose any."

"Friends and brothers, who would have thought?"

"Laura, Emily, Elizabeth." Nikolas kept a close eye on Lucky's reaction to her name.

Lucky shifted in his chair. "Is this the part where we're supposed to hug?"

"I hope not." Nikolas answered with a smile.

Laughing Lucky couldn't help but agree. "I think you deserve a reward for putting up with me all this time."

"You're back among the living that's all I need."

"No you deserve more." Mindful of his promise to Gia Lucky went on. "I think you need a vacation. Both you and Gia should go somewhere away from the Port Charles madness for a while. Someplace that you can recharge."

Nikolas jolted at the suggestion.

"A trip is exactly what's needed." Lucky went on unmindful of the look of dismay on Nikolas' face.

"Trip?" Emily asked from behind Lucky. "Who's going on a trip?"

"We are." Gia cried catching everyone off-guard with her sudden appearance she settled on Nikolas' lap and wrapped her arm around his neck.

"Gia," surprised he automatically kissed her when she offered him her lips.

Emily tightened her grip on the back of the chair as the world dropped out from underneath her yet again. "W-what trip?"

"Deception is sending me to Europe on a publicity tour. I cleared it with everyone, including Ned, to get Nikolas to go with me. Isn't that great?" Gia kept her eyes on Emily and watched her pale.

"How long?" Emily managed the question by not looking at Nikolas who had yet to say a word.

"3 weeks. 21 glorious days and 20 long hot nights." Again Gia answered.

"Gia…"

"I need to go," Emily said abruptly cutting off Nikolas' words. She still wasn't able to look at him, if she did she'd either slap him or cry. And if she started to cry she wasn't certain she'd be able to stop. Somehow he had done it to her again. He had slipped past her defenses back into that space in her heart that he seemed destined to possess. A space that he used to hurt her in a way no one else ever could. How come she never learned her lesson? He never, ever chose her. Christ you'd think she could remember that.

"Are you alright Em?" Seeing how ashen she was Lucky got to his feet in concern.

"I'm fine I just got to go." She reached for her bag and almost hissed when Nikolas' hand covered hers.

"I needed to talk to you about something."

"It'll have to wait." Yanking her hand away as if his touch burned she headed for the door. "I'm late to meet Zander."

Nikolas shut down at the mention of her boyfriend's name.

Gia grinned in triumph.

And Lucky narrowed his eyes speculation trying to figure out the real reason for his friend's desperate flight.

****

~Penthouse 2~

He never saw the point in arguing. If someone was determined what they we're saying was right there was not enough words in the world to make them change their opinion. Because he knew that, and because of that he rarely argued. So it was strange to find himself doing just that with Rory.

"Jason I told you I don't agree with your little theory." Rory reached for the last slice of pizza and waved it in his general direction. "So you can quit harping on me."

"I'm just trying to make you see…" his mouth opened automatically when she shoved the slice of pizza at it.

"Bottom line Jason," Rory kept the pizza at his lips. "You want me to have a guard regardless right?"

Still chewing and not liking the glint in her eyes Jason nodded.

"You would want me to have a guard if it turns out you were the target." Another nod. "And you would also want me to have a guard if it turns out that your brain dead theory turned out to be accurate right?" Again he nodded.

Rory sighed and slumped back on the couch. "Will you worry less if I have a guard?"

"Yes."

"Will your job get done quicker if you're not so focused on me?"

"Yes."

"Fine, I'll take Mr. Francis but only Mr. Francis. No replacements, if he's busy I go without. He doesn't ride with me, unless I want him too, he doesn't tell me where I can and can't go. And he doesn't tattle to you about who I see or what I do," Rory words tumbled out in a rush, each order felt like a concession and she hated it.

Jason was smart enough to take what she was offering. "Deal. I'm not trying to spy on you, or control you. The only reason he will be around is to keep you safe."

"I know," she groaned. "And that's the only reason I'm agreeing. Once you figure things out, things which you will keep me fully in the loop on, he goes away."

"I'll keep you informed on anything I find out that has to do with you," it was the only concession he could give her.

"Relax King Corinthos' problems are his and yours I don't need to know them," she saw him relax and knew the time had come. "Now you have to do me a favor."

"What?" Jason asked already suspicious.

"I've heard every word you said tonight, and the ones you kept to yourself. I'm aware that you believe I'm in danger. All that being said I need you to give me something. Tomorrow morning no guard."

"Rory," Jason's shake of his head was immediate.

"Jason I'm not going to do anything stupid. There's something I need to take care of and I can't have a guard with me, and no you can't come with me either," anticipating his request she shot it down. "I'll be very careful. And you know that no one can follow me if I don't want them too. This first accident caught me off-guard because I wasn't prepared. I didn't know it was coming. I know now. Things will be different."

"I've just spent the last few hours telling you I think you're a target," Jason reminded her. "This isn't a game."

"I know that and I heard every word you said. I also heard the fact that you have no guard, and aren't going to get a guard. Someone tried to kill you, the other day too. And they could very well do it again. I'm not after you to have a guard, because I know you won't take one," Rory pointed out the obvious. "I'm not asking for the moon Jason, just a few hours."

Jason scrubbed a hand wearily over his face. Maybe with a few more hours of sleep he could come up with the words to sway her, but as for right now he was drawing a blank.

"I didn't have to ask Jason. I could have just lost Mr. Francis, you know that," Rory reminded him gently. "The mere fact that I'm telling you in advance should prove to you that I'm willing to try."

"You'll call me at regular intervals?" Jason asked.

Rory swallowed her grin and soberly nodded her head. "I'll even leave a note where I'm going and if I'm not back by noon, you can read it. Deal?" She held out her hand.

"Don't make me regret this," Jason warned her and shook her hand.


	33. The master plan

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Disclaimer: The usual

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Distribution: Please ask first.

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Babble: Well after 31 tortuous chapters I've finally decided to tell you what is wrong with Emily and what Zander's evil plan was. Please let me know if it was worth the wait. In other words reply.

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What If…

Chapter 32

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~Durango~

Rory drummed her fingers on the wheel absently as she moved through traffic with the speed any racer would be proud of. A glance at the speedometer warned her that if she didn't slow soon P.C's finest would eventually be all over her. Reluctantly she eased back on the accelerator and slowed the vehicle to a respectable level of only 13 miles over the posted limit. She could always talk her way out of a ticket if she was only going that fast. That trick of hers always drove Jason insane, but she wasn't about to complain. Lord it over him in triumph, yes, but complain? Never. Because the mere fact that she could talk her way out of a ticket meant she could still drive, otherwise her insurance would have been yanked years ago.

Jason, her eyes went to the clock on the dash, it was almost time to check in with him again. She was very aware of how much it had cost him to let her go this morning alone, especially when he was convinced she was the target of all these not so accidental attacks. So the last thing she wanted to do was to make him worry even more if she could help it.

Another reason it was a good idea to slow down and not race back to Port Charles was sitting next to her. Emily hadn't said a word since they'd left the doctor's office. She sat quietly and simply stared out the front windshield, but Rory was pretty sure she wasn't seeing a thing. Emily's hands had been moving the entire time. While Emily had focused out the window her hands had been flicking what fingernail polish she had left, off of her fingernails, until now they were almost bare.

Rory wanted to offer comfort but had no idea how to do that. As nice as Emily was and as close as they had gotten in the last few days the fact remained, she really didn't know Emily very well, and Emily didn't really know her either. Besides Rory was busy dealing with her own issues at the moment.

Issues like anger, and an intense need to emasculate Zander Smith the next time she saw him. But maybe emasculation was too good for him, maybe she should set it up that on one night when he least expected it Zander found himself alone in an alley with…

"I think I'm going to be sick."

Emily's words interrupted her plans of revenge and Rory checked the rearview mirror before pulling to the side of the road. She hadn't even put the car in park, before Emily had her door open and was racing to some bushes near the truck.

Switching off the engine Rory realized she was really going to have to come up with a creative way to fully pay Zander back. It was either that or let Jason kill him if and when he ever found out what Zander had done. Smiling slightly in anticipation Rory pulled out the new cellphone Jason had presented her with this morning and pressed M1. It only rang once before it was picked up at the other end. "It's me."

"Is everything going okay?" Jason asked immediately.

__

She could hear the concern in his voice and felt guilty for the worry she was causing him. "Everything's fine. I wanted to tell you that I'm on my way back to the penthouse now, I'll be there in plenty of time to change and go with you to the funeral."

"I didn't ask you to do that," Jason reminded her.

__

"You never would, but it doesn't change the fact that I'm going."

Sighing Jason knew better than to argue when he heard the tone she was using. Besides he really didn't want to argue with her. He did want her to accompany him to the funeral, and not just because he would be able to keep an eye on her then. He wanted her with him because her presence would make it easier for him. The man who'd had no weakspots for years suddenly had a large one, one the size of Rory Nichols.

__

"Are you okay?" Rory's voice broke the silence.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Jason moved away from the couch and the papers he'd been looking at, towards the window to look at the harbor. "You sound upset."

__

"I am. I'm so upset I'm trying to think of the most painful way to murder someone. I either need you to talk me out of it, or help me execute it so I won't get caught," Rory admitted.

Something in her tone of voice convinced him she was only half kidding. "Can you tell me about it?"

__

"No," she answered immediately, hesitated, then went on. "I think you'll find out eventually but for now it's not my place to tell."

When he heard a knock on the door behind him, he turned and called out a distracted hail to come in.

__

"It sounds like you need to go," Rory commented.

"When will you be back?" Jason gestured at the newcomer to take a seat and looked at his watch before glancing towards the fireplace.

__

"Give me another ½ hour at least, if it turns out I need more time than that, I'll call you and let you know." Rory looked at her watch then checked the rearview mirror again. "And yes I'll be careful Jason."

Jason closed his mouth to stop the words.

__

"Bye."

"I'll see you soon Rory," Jason turned off the phone and set it in its cradle.

"That was Rory?" Sonny asked as if he hadn't been eavesdropping. 

"Yeah, she had an errand to run," Jason said shortly.

Sonny nodded and knowing that Francis was with Manny's sister he asked what he thought was the obvious question. "Who is with her?"

"No one."

"No one?" Sonny repeated in confusion. "What do you mean no one? I thought we agreed she needed to have a guard."

"We did agree," Jason admitted. "You and I agreed, but Rory didn't."

"Jason this is serious how could you let her leave without someone with her? Doesn't she realize how serious this is?" Sonny demanded. He had seen how wrecked Jason had been when Rory had been missing, then found hurt, so it made no sense to him that Jason would willingly let her leave the penthouse alone.

"She knows exactly how serious things are. We had a long talk that lasted most of the night, and I told her everything. I told her what I know and also what I suspected," Jason defended himself. "She listened, she argued, she posed questions that I hadn't got around to thinking about yet, and she finally agreed to having a guard."

"If she agreed to a guard why the hell are we having this conversation?"

"Because there are conditions," Jason finally snapped. Frustration, worry, and tiredness had him showing some of the anger he was feeling in his eyes, in his voice. "She'll let Francis guard her, but only him. She'll always have her own car to drive, and will only have the guard if she goes somewhere without me. And all of this will start when Francis is done with the funeral, so that means tomorrow. She had to do something this morning with no guard."

Sonny was unaccustomed to having Jason snap at him so it took him a moment to formulate a reply. "Couldn't you have gone with her?" Jason gave him a look that spoke volumes and made him feel like an ass for asking such an obvious question.

"I offered and she said no," Jason answered shortly.

Sonny took his seat at the couch again and focused his attention on the file that was open on the coffee table. He stared sightlessly at the papers for long minutes while Jason prowled the room behind him. He couldn't help but be struck at the changing of their roles. At the times when he was worried, tense, angry he paced, and Jason remained still. This time it seemed the reverse was true. Shaking his head Sonny looked at the papers again for another minute before being compelled to speak. "Didn't you want to know where she was going?"

"Of course I wanted to know," Jason snapped. "Rory explained that what she was doing was a secret and it wasn't her secret to tell, so I let it drop."

"Just like that?" Sonny turned to look at his friend and found Jason had paused in front of the fireplace and was staring at the ledge that ran above it.

"Yeah just like that," Jason muttered.

"What's that?"

"What?" He turned in question.

"The envelope you're staring at," Sonny pointed.

"It's from Rory."

Sonny rubbed his eyes in frustration, this was similar to him trying to have a conversation with Michael. The boy loved to give out information but only after 50 questions. "What did it say?"

"I don't know."

"Jesus Jason what's going on?" Fed up Sonny demanded an explanation and was only a half a minute away from calling Benny and having a guard go look for Rory now.

"Rory left me a note to tell me where she was going and why. If she's not back by a certain time, or she doesn't check in when she's supposed to, I can open it," Jason finally explained and moved away from the envelope.

The envelope was now calling to him like it was a bottle of vintage scotch and Sonny got to his feet and moved to the fireplace. Curiosity had him picking the envelope up and flipping it over, as he had figured it was still tightly sealed. "Christ man you're far stronger than me. I would have opened this the second the door closed."

"Yeah well I'm not you. I can't act like you, especially not with Rory, not anymore anyway."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jason's tone made Sonny look up from the envelope.

"It was pointed out to me that what I learned about relationships I learned from you and that wasn't necessarily a good thing," Jason admitted reluctantly.

"No you learned about relationships from Robin," Sonny corrected him.

Jason nodded seeing his point. "That's true, but I learned how to treat women by watching you."

Sonny couldn't help but flinch and hope that wasn't true. But as he turned and put the envelope back on the ledge, he had the uncomfortable feeling that it was.

An unnatural feeling of wanting to talk, to explain things was moving through Jason and it was slightly unnerving. He realized it was just a reaction to everything that was going on with Rory, but he felt compelled for some reason to explain what he meant. Maybe if Sonny understood what he was trying to say, it would make the words make sense to him as well. "Not just how you treat women in general, but how you treat them when it comes to business. With Lily," Jason froze.

"Go on," Sonny said after a minute.

"I didn't see you with Lily very much, but yours was the first relationship I ever saw up close. You didn't tell her things, but she never seemed to ask. You always treated her with respect, even when you lied to her. She seemed to be willing to take what it was you gave her, and not ask for anything more, at least not until the very end."

"When it was too late to matter," Sonny murmured.

"Not too late because of you, but because of Rivera," Jason corrected his friend. "Do you want me to stop?"

"No I think this is something you need to say," Sonny answered and at the same time wished it was afternoon so he could have a drink.

"With Brenda I never understood how you could forgive her for what she did to you, but you managed it. You also kept her out of things, and you only told her stuff when you were backed in a corner and had no choice. But that never stopped Brenda from asking, from demanding to know everything. I don't think you ever fully trusted her again, and I think she knew that, and that's why she was so desperate to know everything." Jason offered his opinion.

"You saw a lot more than I thought you did."

Shrugging Jason explained. "I always watched people, you and Robin in particular, but I always watched people, it's how I learned things. I know you loved Brenda, but the way you chose to end it with her, that was deliberately cruel on your part, and it was the first time I'd seen you be cruel to a woman."

Sonny nodded slowly, it had been cruel, yet it had also been the only way he could walk away from her. Brenda was then, and had been for the rest of her life, his drug, and no junkie, ever fully forgot their drug of choice. It didn't matter if they'd been clean for 5 minutes or 50 years, the craving for the drug always remained.

"Next I saw you with Hannah, which never made any sense to me," the literal minded Jason went on. "I always thought she looked like Lily, even though she never acted like her. But that didn't seem to matter to you, or maybe it did and that was why you dated her," he shrugged. "I don't know. I just know that when you found out she was FBI you kept her around for weeks, even months longer than you should have. You played with her and used her, and I could have cared less about Hannah, but you were walking a fine line with her."

Nodding again Sonny moved back to the couch. Jason had no idea just how close to the edge he'd been.

"Then there's Carly," Jason's voice grew quiet as he considered his best friend's. Some of the hurt was still there even after all of this time. He rarely let himself look back, it made no point to him, he couldn't change it, so why look back. But sometimes he couldn't help remember a time when things had been different between them. "I can't even begin to describe the relationship that the two of you have together, but whatever it is, it works. I've never seen either one of you happier, than I have since I've been back this last time. But even now, even though you've admitted how much you love her and that you do in fact trust her, you still keep Carly on a leash in what you tell her."

"Too much information in Carly's hands is not a good thing. Too little information is also not a good thing," Sonny explained.

"I know," Jason agreed. "But the way you treat her, the way you treated all of them, is okay for you, it seemed to work I guess, but I can't follow your lead anymore. Rory isn't Robin or Carly, from my own life. And she isn't like any of the women I've seen you with so I can't treat her like she is. I tried that, I didn't know what I was doing until Carly pointed it out to me."

"Carly?" Sonny asked in disbelief.

"Yes Carly, she notices things too Sonny. She probably knows a lot more than you're giving her credit for," Jason pointed out then went back to the subject at hand. "I tried to be like you and I almost lost Rory because of it."

Jason stalked back to the fireplace and picked up the envelope. "Do I want to know what's in here? Yes. Will I be able to live with it if I never find out? Yes, as long as she's here, I'll throw it in the fire and never think about it again."

Was it always this strange for the teacher when the student left them in the dust? Sonny had never wanted to teach Jason things about life. He'd had to in business of course, and there were a few basics in life that Jason needed to learn. But he'd never fully considered how much Jason had watched him in those first few years of friendship.

Jason had somehow managed to learn something he was only now beginning to grasp. That a woman, like Carly could be his full and equal partner if he'd only let her in. All he had to do was let Carly in, just a little bit, that was all she wanted, and wasn't that what he was already doing? "Carly's coming with me to the funeral."

"You told her?" Jason asked in surprise.

Sonny was still surprised himself but he nodded. "Yeah I did, I couldn't seem to help it. I saw what you went through when Rory was missing and hurt, and all I could think about was how I would be lost if it were Carly. I don't think I can handle losing her, that realization made me let her in," he sighed. "I hope I don't regret it."

"You won't," Jason said confidently.

Shifting on the couch Sonny wanted nothing more than to change the subject. He felt he could now that Jason's unusually talkativeness seemed to have passed. This time when his eye fell on the folder on the table he recognized the papers there. "Interesting reading isn't it?"

Jason moved back from the window and took a seat on the loveseat. "Did you catch the comment on page 42?"

Shaking his head Sonny picked up the autopsy report on Elizabeth Webber, flipped to page 42 and began to read.

****

~Durango~

"How are you feeling?" Rory asked after another 15 minutes of silent driving.

"I think I'm numb, at least I'm trying to be," Emily admitted. "I keep trying to wrap my head around what the doctor said and every time I think I have, it hits me all over again and I feel sick."

"I can see why. But at least this time when you get sick you know it's not because your pregnant," Rory pointed out the positive. "Anemia is treatable and curable. The right food, plenty of rest, vitamins, and pretty soon you won't be feeling like crap anymore."

"I know, don't get me wrong I'd take anemia over pregnancy any day, but," she hesitated.

Spying the sign for Port Charles, Rory pulled over in front of it and leaving the engine running, she put the car in park and waited. "But?"

"But when I think about Zander and what he did, it makes me feel sick," she admitted.

"What do you think he did?" Rory prompted.

"Don't you know? I think, given with what the doctor told us there is only one possible scenario as to what he did to me, or tried to do to me."

"I know what I think, I just want to know what you think." Rory watched Emily close her eyes in what looked like pain and was tempted to let the subject drop, but she knew the only way Emily was going to deal with what she'd found out was if she talked about it. "You need to be the one to say the words Em. Until you say them, none of this is real."

Emily was quiet for a long time while she thought about things, and Rory was quiet as well. The only noise came from passing traffic and the muted sound of the base coming in from the speakers. The radio had been turned down but it wasn't off. She had concentrated hard and at times thought she'd identified the song that was being played, but she never turned up the volume to check if she was right. Rory was about to put the truck in gear again when Emily began to speak. At first the words were so quiet she thought she was hearing things, but gradually they grew louder.

"The night Zander and I watched movies at his place, probably went along pretty much like I thought it did, he drugged me intending to sleep with me."

"Rape you," Rory couldn't help but interject. She didn't want Emily to try to pretty his actions up.

Nodding reluctantly Emily went on. "Something must have happened when he was moving me to the bed, because at some point before he could … rape me, he found the birth control pills in my purse. Seeing them he knew they would wreck his plans so he put me back together and pretended like nothing happened."

"And what do you think his plan was?"

"I made a mistake. I popped all my birth control pills out and put them in an old pillbox of Grandmothers. I didn't want my parents to find out I was taking them, and I knew I would never forget to take them, so I hid them in plain sight. The actual pills on one side, and the placebo sugar pills on the other side. And because of this stupidity Zander was able to take advantage," she finished mockingly.

"Naiveté not stupidity," Rory corrected.

"Whatever," Emily rolled her eyes. "He managed to switch out my birth control pills replacing them with placebos, so when I thought I was taking my birth control pill I was actually taking sugar. That explains why my hormone levels were off. It also helped lead to my anemia and what concerned the doctor enough that she asked to see me in person. Had the pills been legitimate birth control pills, like I told her I was taking my hormone levels would have been different, and that would have shown up in the blood work she had ordered. Like she informed us I had no trace of the pills in my system so I'd probably taken my last real pill over 3 months ago."

Rory checked the rearview mirror and seeing nothing out of place she focused on Emily again. "Go on."

"What do you mean go on?" 

"You need to finish your theory Emily. You haven't told me why Zander would do this," Rory reminded her gently.

"Isn't that obvious?" Emily demanded and when Rory merely raised a brow and waited she went on huffily. "He wanted to get me pregnant. He wanted me knocked up with the Smith version of a Quartermaine heir."

Rory nodded. "Do you feel better after saying it?"

"No. Isn't there a chance that I'm wrong? I mean there's no guarantee that I would have gotten pregnant even if I wasn't on the pill. Couldn't the pharmacist have just made a mistake?" Emily asked desperately.

"Emily you said it yourself, you have been taking placebos for more than 3 months. Do you think the pharmacist messed up every time?"

Jarred by the truth of those words Emily searched for another excuse. "Okay but the birth control pills were only a backup, had I ever slept with Zander I would have made him wear a condom as well."

Sighing Rory tried to answer that as delicately as she could, there was no reason to shake Emily anymore than she already was. "I know that's what you would have intended, and Zander would probably have even produced a condom to show you, he would even step back to 'put' it on. But Emily we're talking about your first time ever, and I'm sorry to tell you this but you're not going to be focused on whether or not he actually puts on the condom or not."

Emily's faced flamed but she kept quiet.

"Even if things start in the heat of passion, and one thing leads to another, eventually you get to that point where you're too embarrassed to look at what he's doing. You'll be too busy wondering if your doing things right, you'll be worried that your making too much noise, or that you're not making noise at all, you won't know what to do with your hands. You'll also be wondering if it's going to hurt. Sex, for the first time isn't like the magical moments that romance novels, TV, or movies make it out to be. It's an awkward, and for women, a painful experience."

Emily's blush intensified.

"Very rarely do you hear the sound of trumpets the first time out. About the only thing that makes it great at all is if you're with someone you really care about or love, and he cares about you, and he holds you in his arms. Then it's good."

Emily thought Rory's words made more sense than what she'd seen on her favorite soap opera. She had concerns about like that when she had been merely thinking about sex, she couldn't comprehend how overwhelming actually being in the moment would be. "So you're saying I wouldn't know if he was wearing a condom or not?"

"The first couple of times you probably wouldn't know, and if he said he was wearing a condom, I doubt that you'd check to find out if he was lying. You will more than likely become adventurous in bed, but normally you don't become so right out of the gate. So you have to figure or rather Zander figured that he might have three or four shots with you before he had to worry, and if he knew when you were ovulating that would improve his chances," she theorized coldly.

"That's why he was pressing so hard for me to meet him last week," Emily whispered in horrified realization.

"What?"

"The night you and Jason came to town he was adamant about seeing me that night, according to my calendar that's when I would have been the most fertile."

It was hard but Rory managed to swallow her pithy comment. She really was going to have to run the bastard over the next time she saw him.

"Zander's goal was to make me pregnant," Emily turned to look at Rory. "But why? He didn't know what I would do if I turned up pregnant. I've been afraid for weeks that I was pregnant, and until the doctor said I wasn't I still didn't have a clue what I would do if she said I was."

"That's the risky part of this brilliant plan. I'm sure if this had worked the way he planned for it to work he would make sure he found out if you were pregnant the instant you suspected, or he might even have planted the seeds that you could be himself. He would have wanted you to have the baby, told you that he loved you, and already the loved the baby. He might even have been smart enough to say that if you didn't want the baby, to have it anyway and give it to him to raise." Unaware of the looks Emily was giving her. Rory's mind raced ahead as she plotted what she would do with a similar con. "He is smart he's proved that already. Originally he was going to sleep with you before you turned 18. But seeing the birth control pills, made him adapt, he also changed his mind, rightly so. If you showed up pregnant and under 18 he would have been arrested for statutory rape of a minor. So that's why he eased off until after you turned 18, that was smart on his part."

Emily could only stare at her friend in horror at the scenario that was being outlined with such precision.

"Suddenly your 18, pregnant, scared out of your head, terrified of telling your family the truth, a family that you already left once because of Zander. And then there's Zander telling you everything you want to hear, telling you he loves you no matter what, and you can be a family, he would be the anchor that you'd cling too. Jesus this is brilliant," Rory muttered. "He'd probably work in the idea of marriage as well, the argument he could use to sway you if he had too, is that his child didn't deserve to be born a bastard, and you would more than likely agree, once that happened he would be one step closer to his BBD."

"His what?"

"His bigger and better deal," she explained absently.

"Which was?" Emily asked in fascination this Rory, cold, methodical, studying all the angles, was a side of Rory she hasn't seen before. Gone was the teasing, sarcastic woman with an easy smile, and loved to laugh, in her place was this calculating woman that reminded her of the bad parts she tried to ignore in her brother.

"You said it yourself, he wanted a Quartermaine heir, one fathered by him," Rory answered bluntly. "If you had his child he would be set for life. The Quartermaines would have, at worst tried to bribe him to leave, and even if he took them up on it he would always be able to return and ask for more, the baby would be his ace, his golden parachute for life."

"Jason," Emily whispered.

"Oh he'd count on you to control Jason, and I know you Emily, I only met you last week but I know you, so I know Zander knows you as well. There is no way that you would let Jason permanently damage Zander, especially not if he was the father of your child. You never know when you might need Zander for something because of the baby. No you might let Jason hurt him but you wouldn't let him kill him."

Rory couldn't help but smile at the beauty of the simple plan. If Zander hadn't jumped the gun and drugged her early, or if he had fixed her buttons correctly, he might have gotten away with it. "Very clever."

"You sound impressed."

Hearing the horror behind those words Rory lost the smile and belatedly remembered she was speaking to the intended mark. Emily would have been the victim in this con, Rory wasn't used to speaking with victims, especially not victims she liked, and she knew she'd just messed up. "I'm sorry Emily I just got carried away."

Emily nodded stiffly. "I'd like to go home now."

"Whatever you want," Rory sadly started the truck. That had been so stupid, she had forgotten she wasn't speaking to someone in the life, they wouldn't understand the fascination a plan like this could hold. It wasn't that she approved of what Zander had tried to do, because she didn't and she wouldn't have, even if she didn't like Emily. But just because she would never approve of the plan it didn't mean she didn't appreciate the idea.

Darting a look at Emily's cold expression she wondered if her blunder had just cost her a new friend. Philip's words from years ago came back to her. _You and your criminal of an uncle don't belong in the real world because your nothing but parasites that feeds off the good in people, draining them dry just like a vampire would._

Philip had hurled those words at her when he realized she was the reason he was going to spend 3 months in a Mexican jail. She'd thought she'd brushed off his words immediately, but because they came back to her now, she realized she hadn't. They had only been festering inside of her just waiting to attack when she was the most vulnerable.

Both women were depressed, angry, and cloaked in their respective thoughts so the rest of the drive was made in silence.

****

~P.C.P.D.~

"Whitey your breaking my heart here, isn't there anything more you can give me?" Taggert pleaded as quietly as he could into the phone. He wasn't above begging when he really needed something but there was no reason for the entire squad room to hear him beg.

__

"LT I may be god but I don't do miracles anymore," came Whitey's snarky reply. "Now stop bothering me."

"Wait, Whitey." But it was too late Whitey had hung up.

"So how is the forensic guru today?" Garcia asked cheerfully.

Slamming the phone down Taggert sent his partner a warning look. "I don't want to hear a word."

"I wasn't going to say a word," Garcia paused a beat. "I was going to say several words. Words like I told you not to get into a pissing contest with Whitey because he wins every time."

"I hate your version of I told you so," Taggert grumped.

"Cheer up if you keep frowning like that no woman will want to date you."

"What's with you did you get an A on your book report? Or did the teacher finally ask you to stay after class to enact her own version of Mary Kay Leterneau?" Taggert taunted.

Garcia let the jibe roll off his back with practiced ease. He had received nothing but taunts since he'd gone back to school to get his criminal psych degree. He'd finally realized that his colleagues were merely jealous that he had enough smarts and ambition to go after what he wanted to, at least that's what he told himself when he got fed up with the abuse.

"No really, what put you in such a good mood," Taggert asked seriously.

"Guess who is going to a funeral?" Garcia asked.

"A funeral puts a smile on your face? That's just sick."

"No," Garcia glared at his partner. "It seems Francis Carnivale booked St. Vincent's today for a funeral at 1 o'clock."

"Francis works for Sonny." Taggert was instantly interested.

"I know and my sources tell me that both Sonny and Morgan will be at this funeral," Garcia reported.

"Who is the funeral for? One of the victims we got? I didn't think their bodies had been released yet."

"They haven't this funeral is for a guy named Manny Rameriz."

"That name sounds vaguely familiar," Taggert reached for his notebook.

"Rameriz was a new guy who worked for Sonny, he surfaced about six months ago. As far as organized crime can tell, he was strictly a low level grunt for Corinthos."

"If he's so low level then why does he warrant the presence of both of his bosses at his funeral?" Taggert wanted to know. "And more importantly what did he die of and why didn't we hear of his death before now?"

"He died of natural causes, a heart attack, according to the death certificate signed by Doctor Wilson, no autopsy was ordered even though Manny was in his early 20's. Wilson is citing a preexisting heart condition."

"I always knew Corinthos had an in at the coroner's office," Taggert grumbled.

"He has an in, in every County office," Garcia piped in bitterly.

"We need to see the body," Taggert determined.

"I agree, but after your stunt yesterday," Garcia felt Taggert's glare but kept talking. "By bringing Morgan down to the station for questioning, without a warrant, not to mention the harassment complaint Alexis filed against you on behalf of Rory Nichols, you picked the wrong time to mess up. There is no way a judge will sign off on the warrant we need to seize the body and stop the funeral."

"This is so fucking frustrating. They're the criminals, Morgan and Corinthos are the bad guys, but it's the cops who are punished. We have to jump through so many hoops, there's no way in the world we're ever going to nail them," Taggert bitched bad-temperedly.

Garcia thought that Taggert had brought most of the problems on himself, due to the out of control behavior he had when it came to Corinthos, but he wisely kept that opinion to himself. "What do you want to do?"

"This makes 5 of Corinthos people dying in the last couple of days, or I should say 5 that we know of, who knows who else is already dead. Added to that we have a suspicious accident at their warehouse that injured Jason Morgan. And the confirmed fact that someone tried to kill Rory Nichols, Morgan's girlfriend," Taggert went over his list of interesting facts. "As far as I can tell this only leads to one conclusion. It looks like we have a new player in town, one who is trying to eliminate Corinthos and Morgan."

Garcia nodded that was his take on the situation as well.

"The next few weeks will be hell, you remember what happened last time Corinthos had a mob war?"

"Vividly," Garcia replied. "And so does Mac, he was shot during that particular war and almost died."

"Yep, and I have a feeling things are about to get nasty all over again." Taggert stood and reached for his jacket that was hanging on the back of his chair. "Want to take a drive?"

"Where?" Garcia asked even as he fell in step next to Taggert.

"I think it's only fitting that we pay our respects to the late Manny Rameriz and at the same time find out who else is attending his funeral."

"You're not going to do anything that I'm going to have to write you up for, or even worse arrest you for, are you?" Garcia asked half-seriously and wasn't comforted by Taggert's smirk he received in answer to his question.

****

~L&B~

"Emily where the hell are you?" Nikolas demanded in the receiver before slamming the phone down hard when he got her voice mail yet again.

"What did that phone ever do you to you?" Lucky asked from the door.

"Lucky I didn't see you." Biting back his irritation at being interrupted Nikolas cleared his expression and focused on his brother. "What's going on?"

"I just thought I'd drop by," Lucky explained.

Habit had Nikolas checking Lucky for signs of drinking or hangover. Lucky's eyes were clear, his hands weren't shaking and there was no smoke odor coming from his clothes, indicating Lucky hadn't been drinking in a bar. That was a good sign, because Lucky liked to do his drinking in a bar. Nikolas had rarely found Lucky drunk at home. It seemed Lucky was a social drinker, even if he never said a word to anyone else, he still preferred to do his drinking surrounded by other people. Nikolas wasn't sure if that was good or not, but he was relieved that Lucky hadn't taken to stocking his apartment with booze, yet.

"I'm still sober," Lucky said good-naturedly. "I told you I'm not drinking anymore."

Nikolas refused to look or feel guilty for doubting Lucky. He'd seen too much in the last 2 years to take anything his brother said at face value. "That's good to hear."

"But you're not sure if you believe me or not," Lucky pressed. "I don't blame you Nikolas I can finally see how far I let myself slide."

"Yes you did," Nikolas agreed bluntly, refusing to sugarcoat things for Lucky. "You scared the hell out of mom and me a lot of times, and I can't tell you how many times Lulu called me in tears because you made mom cry or you forgot something you promised Lulu."

Lucky flinched at the coolly stated words. He knew he had a lot to make up for. Especially with Lulu, Nikolas, and Emily, they hadn't deserved what he'd put them through. He dismissed the mention of Laura from his mind. The relationship he had with his parents was far too explosive, he wasn't ready to walk through that quagmire yet. He needed to start slow and helping his brother seemed like a good place to start.

"Have you given anymore thought to going to Europe with Gia?" Lucky asked in an effort to change the subject.

Nikolas knew Lucky was trying to avoid the subject of their mother and was too tired to pursue it right now. "I'm not going."

"Why not? I told you, I'll be fine."

"There are a lot of reasons," Nikolas answered vaguely.

"What kind of reasons?" Perplexed Lucky went on. "Ned agreed to give you time off, I'll be fine on my own, Gia is chomping at the bit for you to go, so why are you dragging your feet?"

Nikolas didn't quite know how to dodge Lucky's pointed question, he hadn't had to dodge Lucky in over two years, so his evasion abilities had gotten rusty. Also as much as he may try to deny it at times, he was a Cassadine, and he wasn't used to being questioned. "I told Gia last night that I had no intention of going with her."

"And your still in one piece," Lucky whistled in appreciation. "How did you manage that?"

By being quick on his feet, the expensive vase that had been a housewarming gift from Mrs. Landsbury had been a victim of Gia's rage, and it had almost taken off his ear when she threw it at him. He hadn't got angry in return, because he could see the hurt that was causing her to lash out. Actually it was more than him seeing the hurt, he knew he was the one that had caused it, and he'd felt guilty because of that hurt, but not guilty enough to change his mind. He didn't want to leave. More specifically he didn't wanted to leave Emily. He had come to that unsettling realization at 3:00 am as he'd tossed and turned in the guest room. He just wasn't sure what that meant for him, for Emily, or for Gia.

He loved Emily, he always had, but he wasn't in love with her. That kind of love he'd reserved for Gia. Yet it had been Emily, and not Gia, that had been consuming his waking and some of his sleeping thoughts for weeks now. And ultimately it was the thought of not wanting to hurt or leave Emily that made him decide to stay in town. He just didn't know what he was supposed to do now.

The sight of Gia's pain the night before had hurt him terribly, and he knew he loved her. But at the same time thoughts of the pain Emily was in were also dancing in his head. He'd seen the stricken look in her eyes when Gia had made her announcement the day before. And he had only been able to watch as the color drained from her face and Emily had run out of the diner like it was on fire.

"Nikolas?" Lucky snapped his fingers in front of his brother's face. "Come back to me now."

Blinking furiously Nikolas forced his attention back to the present. "Did you say something?"

"Okay what's going on with you?" Lucky asked. "First Emily was acting weird and now you are."

"Emily?" He latched on her name. "When did you see Emily? What do you mean she was acting weird?"

"Take it easy," Lucky ordered. "I haven't seen her since yesterday when she lied and shot out the door."

"What do you mean she lied?" Nikolas asked.

"She said she had to meet Zander," Lucky explained.

Swallowing his distaste over hearing Zander's name and nodded. "He is her boyfriend."

"That's just it, he's not." Lucky saw the confusion in Nikolas' eyes and went on. "She told me before you showed up that she'd broken up with Zander the night before. She was a little upset about it but was determined it was for the best. So I don't understand why she said she was going to meet him, and ran away from Kelly's like she did."

Nikolas barely heard what Lucky was saying. His brain was stuck on the words Emily had broken up with Zander. Letting out a breath he felt such an intense feeling of relief that it surprised him. He never fully realized how much he'd despised the fact that Emily was dating Zander, until that very moment. The news that she wasn't seeing him anymore felt like a huge burden had been removed from his shoulders. Emily wasn't dating Zander anymore and that was a good thing. But Emily hadn't told him that, in fact she'd lied to his face that she was still dating Zander, and that was a bad thing. His already confusing like, just seemed to get even more complicated.

****

~Harborview~

"Can I help you?" A graveled voice asked the deliveryman who'd just gotten off the elevator.

"I have a delivery for a," the deliveryman paused to check his clipboard, "Carly Corinnes?"

"Carly Corinthos?" Max asked.

"You're guess is as good as mine." The deliveryman quipped holding out his clipboard with the illegible handwriting on it. "Is this the right address?"

"I'll take it." Max informed him.

"Okay, I just need you to sign," he held out a pen.

Max scribbled his name and held out a few bills as a tip, before reaching taking the flowers from the deliveryman. "Thanks man," the man grinned and turned back to the elevator. 

Max looked down at the small bouquet, whoever sent this obviously didn't know Mrs. Corinthos at all. She hated Lilies, and this was full of them.

~*~

Marin kept whistling until the elevator door closed then discreetly checked his watch. It would be close but the timing could work out. Only one guard, and the man looked like he was more brawn then brain, so that should be no problem. He just needed to perfect his plan. The elevator doors opened again and he pulled on his good old boy face and tipped his hat to the elderly woman who had just gotten on the elevator. 

Leaning back against the handrail he discreetly checked out the camera that was in the corner of the elevator. It hadn't been on the plans, but he bet it had been added at Corinthos suggestion. This was why he made test runs, to take in account all the possibilities both the planned and the unplanned. He'd adapt his plan, to take care of this complication. And when he was ready he'd make his move.

****

~St. Vincent's~

"Are you sure you shouldn't be wearing your sling?" Jason asked as he helped Rory out of the car.

Rory nodded and smoothed down her skirt. "The doctor said I could stop wearing it after a couple of days if I wasn't doing anything strenuous. If it starts hurting I'll put it on, but since I'm starting physical therapy tomorrow, I need to start using the arm again."

"Okay," Jason could see the sense of her words and she took his arm as they moved to the church. Habit had his eyes sweeping the grounds of the church searching for any signs of danger. When Carly and Sonny disappeared inside the church he began to breathe a little easier. "I didn't get a chance to ask you, did everything go okay?"

"It went as well as could be expected considering what we found out," she answered cryptically. The urge to confide in him about her fear that she had freaked his sister out was strong. But she knew she would never do it. She couldn't explain what she'd done to spook Emily without explaining what had led to the discussion and there was no way she was going to break Emily's trust.

"Good," Jason halted just inside the church's atrium, he already felt uncomfortable and he hadn't even made it all the way inside yet.

Rory shifted closer. "We don't have to go in, we can stay out here if you want."

Jason clasped her hand tightly taking the comfort she was offering. "I don't really like churches and I like them even less for funerals. I guess I never really saw the sense in funerals. Sonny would go to church occasionally and a couple of times I went along. I made sure I had Michael baptized in a church. And before I could do that I had to meet with the priest and answer questions about God and religion and all of that."

Content to listen, Rory drew him to the side of the door so other people could get past them.

"But to me a church is like a hospital, it's just a building with life and death in it." He was rambling, he knew it, but he couldn't seem to stop it. "I just don't get funerals. Lily's was the first one I went too, then a few months later I went to this Doctor's funeral with Robin, but I didn't know him. Since then I've been to a lot of funerals of people I worked with, and here I am again at another funeral for a man I don't even know," he sighed. "I just don't see the point of them."

"Then why are you here?"

"Because he worked for us, because of Sonny, because of what he meant to Francis," Jason offered his reasons.

"That's exactly why there are funerals, their not for the dead, obviously they're beyond caring. They are for the living, to help them remember, and eventually let go, closure I think they call it," Rory offered.

"I guess I still don't like them, and I'm sorry I dragged you here."

"Jason," she held her place when he started to move, until he looked at her. "If your crazy theory is right, then that man in there is dead because of me," she saw Jason's eyes frost and realized he hadn't made that leap yet. "Because of that I have more right to be here than almost anyone else."

"If you'd please take your seat we're ready to start," the attendant spoke from the vestibule. Rory took a step and Jason began to move inside after her. The attendant was about to close the door when another pair entered the atrium. "This is a closed service gentlemen."

Taggert waved the man away by flashing his badge. "That was an interesting conversation."

"Indeed it was," Garcia agreed and followed his partner inside the church.


	34. Looking for an upgrade

****

What If…

Chapter 33

****

~Penthouse 4~

"Here's another one. Single white female, 33, seeks male companionship for a casual fun relationship, must be athletic, love dancing, hard activity, professional and single," Rory read the ad aloud. "Jesus why doesn't she just say I want a hard body for a night of loving?"

"Rory."

"It'd be much simpler if she just ran an ad saying 33 year old woman with an itch seeks attractive male. Think how much she would save in ad space and cost alone."

Shaking his head Jason went back to his section of the paper. "I thought you were job hunting. Why are you reading the personals?"

"Just seeing if I can get an upgrade," lowering the paper she shot him a smirk and got a killing glance in return. "I've already scanned the ads I found three potentials. They need strippers at a club called Oasis. What do you think?"

Wisely Jason kept his opinions to himself.

"Hmmm skydiving instructor. That sounds interesting."

"I know you want to work," Jason began cautiously. "I just wish you'd let me take care of the hospital bill."

"With the exception of $512 dollars your insurance took care of the hospital bill, I'll pay for the rest not you. If I hadn't sent Uncle Gabe the cash before my accident it would have already been paid off," dismissing the loss Rory went back to her paper.

Jason wanted to press her but knew better. Besides being stubborn she was very proud. She wasn't like Carly she didn't need a martini shaker full of money to make her happy. During their travels if they were going to be in a spot for a time, she invariably found a part time job.

"Medical transcriptionist, nah too boring."

"I know you don't want me to pay your bills so I won't, but that still doesn't change the fact that you don't need to buy…"

"I really hope you aren't suggesting that I don't need to buy a car to replace the one that went airborne, that I should instead just continue to use the Durango that you bought for me," she never even looked up. "I know you don't want to go back to that argument."

Frustrated Jason went back to his paper.

"What's a four letter word for trier of patience. Oh I know … dolt," Rory looked at him with a grin.

"Brat," Jason countered.

****

~Penthouse 2~

Getting off of the elevator Emily, for once, had no concerns that Zander might be lurking around nearby. It was a pretty safe guess that the last place that Zander would be, would be anywhere near her brother. In the days since finding out what was wrong with her physically, she'd been lucky that she'd managed to avoid Zander and his persistent desire to see her. She still wasn't sure what she would say when she did finally see him. The numbness that had gripped her since finding out the evilness he was capable of was gradually beginning to fade. Sooner or later anger would grip her of that she had no doubt.

The chilling way Rory had theorized Zander's plan still scared her. It scared her because she knew Rory was right. Even if Zander never admitted it to her, she still knew that tricking her into getting pregnant so he would be set financially had been his main goal in life. Had she ever really known him? Or was every word between them a lie?

Emily gradually became aware that she was standing in the hallway between the two penthouses. Who knew how long she'd been there staring at nothing, she was just grateful that there wasn't a guard on the floor to witness her inactivity. The ding of the elevator sounded behind her, turning she smiled when she recognized who it was.

"Ms. Quartermaine," Johnny stepped from the elevator resisting the urge to wipe his mouth to check if there were any remains from his doughnut breakfast remaining there. "Are you here to see Jason?"

"Actually I want to see Sonny if he has a minute."

"I'll check," Johnny quickly crossed to the door knocking briefly before opening it. "Emily Quartermaine is here to see you." When his boss nodded he stepped back to let Emily inside before closing the door behind her. Once he had he took a swipe at his mouth and wasn't surprised at the white powdered sugar visible on his fingers.

"Emily," stood in welcome, his smile remained even while he took a critical survey of the girl. She was too thin and it didn't look like she'd been sleeping. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Emily shook her head when he held up the coffee and made herself move towards the table and the breakfast spread sitting there. She knew she had to do this, she had to get Zander to leave her alone. If not Reggie was going to kill her. He was getting crazed by having to constantly run interference between her and Zander not to mention figuring out which room she was sleeping in each night.

"What can I do for you?"

"I came to ask you something." Taking a seat she couldn't help but feel relieved that the smell of food no longer made her nauseous. Since finding out what was wrong, her stomach had lost the frequent urge to rebel at the sight of food. She still didn't have much of an appetite but what she had was better than it had been. Aware that Sonny was eyeing her curiously she focused on the reason for her early morning visit. "How do you feel about Zander?"

Pausing to pour more coffee for himself gave him time to consider her question. Zander was a punk, but he'd been a useful punk, at least for a time. "I'm grateful to him for what he did with Sorel." Emily slumped in her chair. "But my loyalty is to you, not him."

"Really?"

Noting the surprise on her face he couldn't help but feel rankled. "Why are you acting so surprised?"

Emily shrugged and kept her eyes on the table. "I know how much you value loyalty. I'm Jason's sister but other than that I haven't done anything to earn your loyalty, Zander has."

"Zander's also a punk," he countered. "Gratitude only goes so far with me. He crossed the line when he started mistreating you."

"Jason told you." It wasn't a question, just a comment and she wasn't sure if she was relieved or sad to know that he knew.

"Yes he did," he confirmed.

"Did he tell you that I broke up with Zander?"

Sonny nodded.

"Zander didn't take it well," Emily admitted. "Since then he," she hesitated. "He keeps coming around. He seems to think we'll get back together."

"I hope that's not true."

"There's no way in hell I'll get back with him, especially not now, not after I found out what he did to m…" she trailed off. "No there's no chance of that."

Sonny couldn't help but he curious as to what had put that furious look in her eyes but he let it go. "What do you need from me?"

"Zander." Again she hesitated. She may hate Zander at the moment but that didn't mean she wanted to see him permanently injured. Hurt … possibly, but permanently injured … no.

"Emily?"

"He's been using you, his belief that you owe him to try to intimidate people around me to either try to get me to come to him, or to get at me. He's threatened Reginald, some people at my school and he's tried to get into the house," she admitted in a rush.

"I see," getting up from the table he moved for the phone.

"Wait," jumping from the table she took the phone from his hand. "I don't want him hurt, not really. I was just hoping you could scare him a little bit. I don't know maybe suggest you're not as grateful as he thinks, maybe even encourage him to leave town. The best thing for everyone will be if Zander leaves town."

"Emily if he's threatening you…"

"He's not, not really." Emily paced a little. She needed to get Zander out of town before Jason found out what he'd done to her. The last thing she needed was for her brother to get into trouble because of her. Another reason was much baser. There was a good chance that Jason might kill Zander. When he'd found out about Tom Baker blackmailing her then holding her hostage and threatening to kill her, she'd seen the coldness in his eyes and knew that he would kill Baker. The only reason he hadn't was because of her demands that she could handle it, and more importantly her insistence that Elizabeth needed to handle it. A part of her always knew that Jason's solution to her problem would have been a violent one.

She wasn't naïve, she didn't have blinders on when it came to her brother. She knew he'd killed before and quite possibly would again. But killing for his job and killing because of her were two different things. She could live with the stuff he never talked about with his job. She didn't like it but she could live with it. But she couldn't live with knowing he'd crossed the line again and this time it was because of her. So it was a partially selfish reason that brought her to Sonny's door.

"Emily you told me he won't leave you alone, that he's basically stalking you. Jason told me that he got rough with you when you ended it. Zander has to learn that he can't treat you or any woman this way," he hesitated the softened his tone. "Maybe you should be having this conversation with Jason."

"No." Her voice was sharp, firm. "The Zander of the last few months may not be the Zander I originally fell for. But I still don't want him hurt and I really don't want my brother to be the one doing the hurting. If you make it clear to Zander that he no longer has your protection, and encourage him it would be in his best interest to leave town, I know he will."

Rubbing wearily at his eyes he shook his head. "I still think you should talk to Jason."

"Jason's going to have other things on his mind. More important things," she contended. "Please Sonny I won't ask you for anything else if you'll just do this."

****

~Kelly's~

Climbing the steps at Kelly's had become something Nikolas was very used to, but it hadn't always been that way. When he'd first arrived in town he knew of Kelly's, his uncle made sure of that, but he also knew it was owned by the Spencer's as such it was a place he would never be welcome in. Perhaps it was the fact that he wasn't welcome inspired a sense of longing to be inside. Even when he had been unwelcome he still went in, his pride would let him do nothing else. He was a Cassadine after all. Later that had changed, eventually he had been welcomed in the warm room, laughter and conversation flowed easily around him and through him. Lucky, Bobbie, Elizabeth, Emily, always Emily. Shaking the thought of her away was getting harder and harder for him to do and yet he still tried.

In the last two years Kelly's had changed once again and when he climbed the stairs it was always with a sense of trepidation. He never knew what he would find once he finally reached the top. Would he see Lucky lying bleeding on the floor in front of his door, because he'd tripped over his feet during the night and couldn't seem to get up? Would he find Lucky camped out in the bathroom getting sick over the previous night's activities? Would he barely be able to speak because Lucky's hangover was so bad even breathing was too loud for him? Or would he find Lucky passed out in the bed barely breathing because of alcohol poisoning? Any of those options and a multitude of others were possible.

In spite of Lucky's claim of a few days ago that he wasn't drinking anymore, Nikolas wasn't convinced. So it was with wariness that he knocked on his brother's door and waited. A long minute passed before he knocked again, and strained to hear movement on the other side of the door. A third knock came and went with no Lucky. Tammy said he was here so that only left one reason as to why he wasn't opening the door. With a sigh of disappointment but not surprise he reached for his key and was about to stick it in the lock when Lucky opened the door. Startled Nikolas said the one thing on his mind. "What took you so long?"

Lucky looked down at the towel wrapped around his waist then back at his brother. "I think that would be obvious. I was in the shower. Come in, I'll be right back," he called before disappearing in the bathroom.

Still suspicious Nikolas followed him into the room and studied it looking for evidence of a night filled of drinking. There were no beer cans on the dresser or bottles in the trash but that didn't mean a thing. Lucky had always been a social/anti-social drinker. He preferred to drink alone, that was true. But he preferred drinking alone in a crowd of people. Lack of evidence of booze didn't mean Lucky hadn't been drinking the night before. Refusing to feel guilty over his lack of belief in Lucky's new lease on life, Nikolas eventually crossed to the desk. Boredom, more than curiosity had him picking up one of the pieces of paper piled high upon it.

"Man I'm hungry. How about you?" Lucky was in a good mood and it showed. "I need to put in a few hours at the warehouse then I have a job interview at a computer shop later."

"If you're convinced that Rory is Rory and not Elizabeth why are you investigating her past?"

Startled by the unexpected question Lucky turned to look at his brother. The question might have been calmly asked but Nikolas' eyes were definitely angry. Recognizing the look Lucky realized he was going to have to talk really quick to get around his suspicious brother.

****

~Penthouse 4~

"Heading to work?" Rory asked when Jason came tramping down the stairs.

"Yeah. Are you staying in for awhile?"

"I told Francis I wanted to leave around 10:00. I won't leave without him," she grimaced then. "We'll go job hunting then I have to go to hell and visit Satan."

Knowing that was her present name for her physical therapist Jason wisely let her comments pass. He was pleased with her attitude when it came to therapy. He was also relieved that the problems they'd been having seemed to be gone. Ever since what he still considered to be her ultimatum, they had been getting along better than ever. She still refused to believe the attempt on her life had been because of something she'd done, but she wasn't fighting him about having Francis around anymore. They were closer than before, but still a little cautious with each other. He still hadn't broached the topic of love with her. Why he was waiting he wasn't sure, but he was.

"Earth to Jason … Come in Jason." Amused Rory waived a hand in front of his face until he focused on her. "Where did you go?"

"I was just thinking."

"You're not still angry are you?" Keeping her tone light she took his hands in hers and searched his eyes.

"Angry about what?" He realized what she was talking about and couldn't help getting angry again. Manny's funeral. More precisely, Taggert and Garcia crashing Manny's funeral. Even now, days later he still got a bitter taste in his mouth when he thought of them intruding where they had absolutely no right to be.

"I can see you are." Rory sighed she wanted him to let his anger go. Personally she had no problems with a person being a little angry, only Jason wasn't just a little angry and what he was feeling was directed at the police, not a good combination in her opinion. "If you need to let it out, I can straighten my fingers again so I'm ready for Round 2."

"What?" Her curious words pulled him from his memories.

"Wellllll," she drawled the word out deliberately. "I wrapped my fingers through your belt loop when you saw the cops to keep you in place and it took days for them to uncurl," she held up her hand. "See they're straight again, I'm healed."

Amused he bent down and kissed her lightly.

"If you were planning to do that to the cops I'm sorry I stopped you." Her words caused the last of his anger to fade from his eyes and for that she was grateful. Stepping closer she slid her arms around his neck and considered it a victory when she felt only slight pain. "But if you plan on kissing anyone else we'll have a problem."

Recognizing the grimace in her eyes that she kept from his face he shifted them both until he was sitting on the couch with her on his lap, thereby taking the pressure from her still injured shoulder. "So now I'm only allowed to kiss you?"

"What do you mean now?" Rory demanded. "Those were always the rules Morgan. As long as I'm kissing you, no one else is."

"Funny," he paused in nuzzling her neck. "I don't remember that rule."

"Morgan," she tried to sound stern but it was hard when his lips found the soft skin below her ear.

"You might have agreed to this rule but I'm sure I didn't." This morning he felt lighter than he had since coming home to Port Charles, that lightness turned, as it normally did, into a tease when he was around Rory. She was the only person who could make him act this way.

"Morgan," her squirming resumed. "Let me go."

"I don't think so," his arms tightened around her holding her easily in place.

"You better behave," she warned him.

"Or what?" Recognizing the dare in her eyes he goaded it.

"Or I'll go back to the personals and find someone else. You can be replaced you know," Rory taunted.

"No I can't. There's only one me."

Rory burst out laughing. "And for that fact alone the free world rejoices."

Feeling slightly insulted his hold loosened and Rory twisted free. Getting to her feet she quickly moved to the end of the couch eyeing him warily.

"Think of it. The part of Rory's boyfriend will now be played by _____."

"By who?" Jason got to his feet taking a step towards her she countered by taking one of her own.

"I don't know … yet. I'm sure there will be a lot of people volunteering for the job." Amusement danced in her eyes at his approach.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that, you can be very exasperating, crazy, stubborn…"

"You chased me," she huffed out, "I'll be in demand."

Jason stayed where he was calculating. "I know I chased you but did you forget I'm also brain damaged?"

Her mouth fell open in shock. Using her stunned immobility to his advantage he moved quickly, picking her up and heading for the stairs.

"Morgan," Rory began to laugh only to have it cut-off by his mouth.

He'd just cleared the 2nd step when a knock sounded on the door. Curses rang out as usual hers were more inventive. Realizing he didn't have time to do with her what he wanted to do he moved back into the living room and dropped her on the couch before heading for the door. He wasn't surprised when a pillow bounced off the back of his head before he ever reached it.

"Emily." Stepping back automatically he let her in.

"I hope I'm not interrupting. I needed to talk to you about something," spying Rory on the couch she came to a quick halt.

Rory felt the humor of the last few minutes vanish and got to her feet.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see Francis outside. I thought you were gone." Emily blanched at the way that sounded. "I'll come back."

"Emily wait." Rory thought quickly. There was no way she was going to keep Jason from his sister when it was obvious that Emily was finally ready to talk to him. If she were the reason Emily wanted to leave she'd remove herself from the equation. "I was just heading for Sonny's. I'm hungry and one good thing about living in this overgrown hotel is the food next door." Pausing by Jason she kissed his check and saw the curiosity and concern in his eyes, ignoring them she headed for the door. "Emily I'll see you."

Jason had known that Rory had been worried about something the past few days. He could see it in her eyes from the time she'd returned from her mysterious errand the morning of the funeral. Now he knew that whatever was causing the worry had something to do with Emily. Reaching out he caught the door before he could close it. "Rory."

"Don't worry Morgan. I won't go anywhere until Francis gets here," leaving the door for him she continued across the hall.

"I didn't mean to chase her off," Emily offered although she was relieved that Rory had left. She couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around her. Not only did Rory know the worst of her secrets she seemed to find them fascinating. She felt like an idiot next to Rory and no one liked feeling like an idiot.

"You didn't." Shutting the door he turned to study his sister who quickly turned away and sat on the couch. Undaunted he followed. "What brings you by?"

"I needed to tell you something," she hesitated for a minute then turned to face him. "It's about mom."

****

~Penthouse 2~

"What do you want?" Carly demanded when she answered the knock on the door.

"It's nice to see you too Blondie." Ignoring the fact or maybe because of the fact that Carly didn't want her inside Rory moved past her into the darkly furnished room. "Don't believe in color around here do you?"

Insulted Carly slammed the door.

****

~P.C.P.D.~

"You don't really think this is going to work do you?"

Taggert eyed his partner for minute then shrugged. "Aren't you the one always telling me how smart Whitey is?"

"Yeah," Garcia conceded. "But to build a receiver for a sophisticated bug that we don't even know will work? That might be stretching his talents a bit."

Shrugging again Taggert moved back to his desk.

"Even if he can get this thing to work we can't use anything we hear. We don't have a warrant." Garcia trailed him keeping his voice low. "Besides Mac laid it out to you. The next time Alexis mentions your name and harassment in the same sentence you're suspended."

"I know," Taggert snapped. The fact that he might lose his job while Corinthos and Morgan got away scott-free burned him. But he'd figure out a way to get them. The bug Whitey discovered might be that way.

"Maybe you should back off for awhile, let your latest warning fade a bit before trying again."

As far as Taggert was concerned backing off wasn't an option. It would never be an option as long as he was dealing with Corinthos and Morgan.

"Taggert…"

"Look there's nothing illegal with Whitey building a receiver. If he happens to pick something up from the phones then I'll worry about figuring out how to use it." Sighing a bit reluctantly he picked up his prized Roger Clemons rookie card and headed for the lab.

"Phones?" Garcia repeated. "You don't think…"

Smiling slyly at his partner Taggert nodded. "If there's a bug in Rory's phone it only stands to reason there's one in Morgan's as well." Whistling a happy tune he continued on to the lab.

****

~Kelly's~

"Do you need to hear the question again?" Nikolas asked casually.

"No," Lucky snapped snatching the paper from Nikolas' hand. "I started checking Rory out the day after I first saw her."

"Have you stopped?" Again his voice was casual.

"Yes." Disgusted Lucky stomped to a chair and dropped in it.

"Then why did that page, this page and most of the pages on this desk have yesterday's date on them?"

Keeping his eyes on the floor Lucky paused in the process of tying his shoes, trying to think of a legitimate sounding reason to give to his brother.

"Don't try so hard Lucky." Nikolas dropped the casual his tone turning sharp. "I knew you were lying the night you told us you knew Rory was Rory not Elizabeth."

"You did not."

"Yes I did. You're out of practice Lucky. You're not a convincing liar anymore. I saw through the scam, Emily probably would have too if she hadn't been so desperate to have her friend back."

"That's not why Emily didn't see the truth." Lucky admitted his lie and tried to divert Nikolas at the same time. "She was upset when she got to Kelly's that night and it had nothing to do with me."

Uncomfortable Nikolas moved from the desk to the window that much was true. He wondered if Emily was still upset. He hadn't seen her since that night. She never answered either her cell, or her private line. When he went to her house Reginald always said she was out. He'd tried catching her at school but she had proven to quick for him. The day he saw Zander lurking outside her school waiting for her, he stopped going by the school. One stalker in Emily's life was enough. He had taken perverse pleasure in calling the police and reporting a wild-eyed druggie freak hanging out by the school. Hopefully Zander had been arrested, he hadn't waited around to find out for sure.

During Nikolas' surprising silence Lucky used the time to study his brother. The uncomfortable vibes he'd picked up the last time he'd talked to Nikolas about Emily were back. He also remembered the look on her face when Gia had made her surprising announcement. Something was going on between the two of them, and in the past whenever that had happened Emily was the one that got hurt. "Damn'it your messing with her head again."

"What?"

"Emily. You're messing with her feelings again. You've got to stop this," Lucky snapped.

Nikolas regrouped quickly. "The only one messing with Emily's head or her feelings is you."

Lucky couldn't help flinching at the truth in the remark. "I'd say there's plenty of blame to go around, or were you too busy to notice the fact it looked like someone kicked her in the teeth when Gia dropped her bomb about the two of you going away?"

It was Nikolas' turn to flinch.

****

~Penthouse 2~

"Why are you here Shorty?" Carly demanded after a minute of watching Rory wander her home.

"Is Sonny here?"

"No he's at work." Carly opened the door expecting that to be the end of it but instead of leaving Rory took a seat on the couch. Irritated all over again Carly slammed the door. 

"I thought you were here to see Sonny."

"Do you like living here?"

Both remarks came out at the same time.

"It's my home," Carly answered first.

"Yeah but don't you think it's a bit dark?" Rory asked.

Bristling Carly glared at her. "What do you want?"

"Me?" Rory stalled. "I'm just killing time."

"Well kill it in the bright rooms known as Jason's penthouse if the dark bothers you so damn much," Carly snapped.

Rory remained where she was. There was no way she was going to interrupt Jason and Emily, not when it seemed that Emily was finally ready to confide in him. Of course once Emily did tell him about Zander she was going to have to stick real close to Jason. She had no problem with Jason maiming the guy but she couldn't let him kill the punk. She got the feeling that Emily wouldn't be able to handle it if Jason killed her ex-slimeball.

Frustrated by Rory's unwillingness to leave, Carly headed back in the kitchen to finish what she'd been doing, she had a feeling Rory would follow and wasn't disappointed.

"Remodeling?" Rory asked, taking in the magazines, blueprints and tape measure the blonde was bent over.

"Obviously." Carly turned back to her fingers while Rory wandered the kitchen. It was like watching a poodle sniff out a new home. Amused with the analogy Carly snorted.

"You have a lot of blueprints for one room." Eyeing them Rory jumped up on the counter next to where Carly was working. "Planning on building an addition like the Taj Mahal?"

"No. These are blueprints for both penthouses. The architect sent them all." Carly swatted Rory's hand away when she reached for them. "Back off."

"Fine," Rory grumbled taking a magazine instead.

Carly was soon distracted by a thump sound. Looking over she was surprised to see Rory batting her feet against the cabinet door. Her attention was distracted again when Rory let out a laugh.

"I thought you were remodeling a kitchen."

"I am."

"It's going to be an interesting remodel," Rory commented with a grin. "Tell me where were you putting the pool table?"

"Give me that." Carly reached for the magazine but Rory jumped off the counter and danced away laughing the whole time. It was there in that moment that Carly decided to leave the scuffmarks of Rory's shoes on Sonny's prized cabinet doors. Watching the blow-up when he saw them and went after the runt would be fun to watch.

"Where are you going to put it?" Oblivious to her impending peril Rory continued to tease. When the blonde didn't answer she turned, exploring the small hallway behind the kitchen. There was a room halfway down it, opening the door she realized it had once been a bedroom.

"We're putting in a playroom for Michael," Carly informed her stiffly from behind.

"Sure you are," agreeable Rory played along for a second as she headed back to the kitchen. "I'm sure your remodel had nothing to do with me cleaning your clock in pool last week did it?"

"You didn't clean my clock." Infuriated Carly slammed the door closed as hard as she could. It slammed so hard in fact that a little piece of wood broke free from the wall next to the door and fell to the floor. "Shit."

"What's that?" Rory was already heading back down the short hall.

"It looks like paneling," Carly sniped.

"No that," Rory's eyes were sharp and had spied something Carly hadn't noticed yet.

The piece of paneling that had fallen was small, perfectly square, probably the width of a man's spread fingered hand. But that wasn't the unusual part. The hinge on the backside of the panel _was_ unusual. So too was the space where the paneling had once been. Instead of a section of insulation, what had been exposed was a keypad built into the wall.

"What's that doing there?" Carly asked.

"Since this is your home I was hoping you could tell me," Rory muttered while crouching to get a good look. "It's old."

"How can you tell?" Carly crouched to look as well.

"The electronics, the name of the firm, they went out of business 5 or 6 years ago." Tilting her head she tried to look in the opening to discover where the wires led, but the opening was too small, the paneling too dark. "It's odd."

"Yes finding a hidden keypad in the middle of a hall is odd."

"It's not just a keypad Carly. It's a lock."

"A lock for what?" Carly wanted to know.

Stepping back from the opening she took a good look at the narrow hall studying it before opening the door to the bedroom to do the same.

"Prospecting?" Carly acted blasé but was dying to know what Rory knew. She knew something that was obvious. Rory walked out of the adjoining bathroom with a frown then walked inside the closet. "Looking for a new place to live?"

Ignoring the blonde Rory continued to work through the puzzle remembering something she headed out the door back to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Carly demanded when Rory made a beeline for the blueprints.

"Didn't you see it?"

"See what?"

"These aren't the original blueprints." Rory sounded almost accusing when she looked at Carly.

"I know the architect couldn't find the originals he swears these are exact duplicates."

"Look." Rory spread the plans for both penthouses side by side. "Tell me what you see."

Curious Carly did as she was told. It took her a few minutes but she finally figured out what had put the excitement in Rory's face. "There's a room missing from the plans."

"Exactly." Rory nodded. For once her and Carly were united. "The square footage is the same for both penthouses yet Jason's has 2 rooms in his hall behind the kitchen while you only have the one."

"Maybe there's only one room here because it's bigger than the one in Jason's place."

"Look at the dimensions they're the same. No you have an extra room back there. Probably hidden by the paneling or a wall and that's what the keypad is for. You need it to unlock the room."

****

~P.C. Hotel~

Marin threw the slide rule across the room in disgust his pencil soon followed. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the numbers to come out right. The penthouse dimensions refused to conform to the blueprints and he didn't like that. Even though the penthouse giving him the fits wasn't the primary one he still didn't like it. He didn't like surprises.

Normally he only worked from originals. But he'd been unable to locate the original blueprints for the penthouses. Now he was wondering if a mistake had been made on the copy and if so how many other mistakes there were. He didn't tolerate mistakes but since taking this job that was all that was happening. The mistake in trying to kill Rory Nichols before his client had been ready, being spied at Jake's when he went to check the bugs, being unable to get into the penthouse to place new bugs, forgetting to take Rory's cell when he had the chance. Too many mistakes and it was all her fault. One day she would pay for making him look foolish. She would pay.

Pain. It made him shift his focus, looking down he was surprised to find his hand bleeding. Opening his palm, pieces of glass fell to the floor and drops of blood fell on his pants. Yet another thing to blame Rory Nichols for. Wrapping his bleeding hand in a handkerchief he went back to his plans. He needed to study them until he knew every square inch of both penthouses. He wouldn't be able to make his move until he did.

****

~Penthouse 4~

"I thought you'd be gone," Rory hesitated in the doorway when she saw that both Emily and Jason were still here. A quick look at Emily's face told her that the girl had been crying. "I'll come back."

"No. Stay." Jason's voice was harsh and incredibly weary at the same time, clearing his throat he tried again. "We need to leave anyway."

"Okay." Rory moved to Jason's side to search his face for a clue to what he was feeling. His normally clear blue eyes were swirling with emotion but there was no anger in them. "Are you okay?"

For a minute he bent down, resting his forehead on hers and just let himself breathe. Caught off-guard Rory took his hands in hers but kept quiet. After another minute he steeped back. "I'm taking the Durango we need to see someone."

"Okay, I'll ride with Francis. If you need to call me use his phone mine's still missing," she squeezed his hands trying to comfort and letting him know she was there for him.

"I'll call," letting go reluctantly he stepped back and joined Emily who was waiting at the door. The door closed behind them and Rory stared at it for a long time. What could Emily have told him that made him so upset?

~*~*~*~

"Francis," Jason's tone was brisk.

__

"Jason I'm about five minutes out."

"That's fine. I just wanted to let you know I'm taking the Durango so don't be surprised when you get here and it's gone. Rory's in the penthouse waiting for you. You're going job hunting again."

__

"Wonderful," Francis jeered then hesitated. "Jason yesterday one of the places she applied was the Bucket of Blood."

Hearing the words and Francis' tone got to Jason and in spite of the news he'd just received he couldn't help reacting to it. "I'm sure she was able to produce an I.D. that showed she was over 21."

__

Francis was quiet for a long time. "Are you sure you want her to work there?"

"Relax Francis she was just trying to get a rise out you. Instead I bet you just stood there impassively like always." Hearing silence on the other end of the line he knew he was right. Feeling for his friend Jason decided to give him a heads up. "Don't be surprised if she takes you to Oasis today." The elevator came to a stop. "I've got to go, call me if there are any problems."

__

Frowning Francis was slow to close the phone. Wasn't Oasis a strip club?


	35. Wanna work in a morgue?

**What If…**

Chapter 34

**General Hospital**

The room itself was nice. You didn't have to be an expert to know that the leather furniture was quality, or that the desk was some sort of pricey antique. The room even boasted a nice view of the afternoon skyline. But no matter how attractive the packaging was it couldn't diminish the fact that the room was still an office. Not only was it an office, it was an office in a hospital and therefore, in Jason's mind it was one of the last places in the world he ever wanted to be. It didn't matter that there was carpeting on the floor instead of linoleum and that the plants on the wall were real and not the rubbery fake ones that adorned the waiting rooms, the room was still in a hospital.

The sounds of pages and the melodic beeps that made no sense to anyone that didn't work in the hospital were muted inside the office. And since they were in the executive wing there were no sounds of squeaky wheels of aged gurneys or wheelchairs passing outside the doorway. The mask that cloaked the office was a good one but he was still ill at ease and longed to be outside in the fresh air, away from the cloying pressure that formed in his chest every time he was forced to spend time in the hospital. Sonny once called him claustrophobic and he denied it because small spaces didn't bother him. But now he realized that the term claustrophobia could apply to other situations and his was hospitals. However at this moment the pressure he felt because of being in a hospital was complicated by the presence of the person that was pacing in front of the window.

A.J. Quartermaine paced when he was nervous, when he was stressed, or when he was trying to argue a point. It was a habit that was a holdover from his boozing days. It seemed he could think quicker if he kept moving. The lies came easier, the evasions were quicker and the family was easier to keep off balance. He got away with much more than he would have if he chose to sit still. Or at least he had been able to get away with things with everyone in the family except for his brother Jason. Of course Jason was dead now, killed by his own drunken hand.

After that happened he wasn't able to snow the family anymore and in fact he didn't want to. He didn't want to feel he didn't want to go on. He hit rock bottom and was content to stay there. Eventually, and after a lot of false starts he managed to get sober and this time he was determined to stay that way. He had a pretty good grasp on things in his life, he was feeling in control again, and then the man with his brother's face had shown back up in town and he felt his hard fought control begin to slip away.

No matter how many times he told himself to stop trying to earn Jason's respect, or even his acknowledgment, he couldn't help it. A lifetime of competing with his brother and failing wouldn't allow him to quit. Even if he mostly acknowledged that this Jason wasn't his brother he still felt the need to compete against him. What was sad was even now, when Jason didn't even know he was competing he could still defeat him.

A.J. was determined that this time was going to be different, that this time he wasn't going to fail. He had a woman in his life that genuinely seemed to care for him. He was making inroads with the court in regaining visitation rights to his son. He had a successful business with the football team. All of these were positives and he wasn't about to blow it by sliding back into a familiar pattern of trying to best Jason. Their one unexpected confrontation that he had come out the loser in would have to be enough this time around. Besides there were more important issues then dealing with Jason happening today. The reason he was in this tension filled room with Jason was more important then any petty bickering. He needed to focus on today's goal, not his once perfect brother. Yet when his eye fell on an obvious picture of Jason Morgan that was placed on the credenza next to his own, he couldn't help the stab of bitterness that caused his mouth to twist into a sneer.

It was times like this that Emily desperately missed being an only child. It had been hard enough to verbalize her fears to her brothers and convince them to join her for this intervention. At the time her only focus was on getting the truth out of Monica. Now she realized she should have thought things through more thoroughly. Jason and A.J. in the same room was not a good thing. Even though neither one had spoken to the other the tension had mounted with every sigh from AJ or every shift of position from Jason. She had been walking a tightrope for the better part of an hour. If she took the seat next to Jason, AJ would be upset, if she took the seat by AJ he would gloat.

"Do you know when she's going to be here?" Jason broke the heavy silence.

"It should be anytime." Emily glanced at the clock on the wall. "Rounds should be ending."

"If you have an appointment we don't want to keep you. Feel free to leave anytime." AJ made his jeering contribution to the conversation.

Jason merely glared in his direction.

"I'm serious I'm sure that Sonny has you on some sort of schedule. Don't you have someone to threaten or intimidate right about now?" AJ's good intentions of a few minutes ago had quickly vanished.

"Shut it. AJ." Jason snapped and got to his feet. AJ was still the only one who could make him snap with only a few words.

The stress of the last several weeks, but more importantly the last few days finally got to her and Emily snapped. "That's it. If you two can't grow up and realize were here for more then your petty animosity you can both get the hell out."

Feeling the sting of her rebuke AJ took a guilty step back. "I'm here for mom."

"I'm staying." Jason murmured quietly.

"Then grow up." With that Emily sat down and the waiting began again.

**Port Charles Hotel**

Rory nodded absently at the doorman, her focus remaining on the circled ad in the well-worn newspaper. "I don't know Mr. Francis this job would have to be pretty sweet to top the other one."

A dubious Francis merely glanced in her direction. "The Oasis?"

Grinning at his attempt to tease Rory decided to return the favor. "Are you encouraging me to strip for a living Mr. Francis?" She nudged him with her elbow. "Looking to liven up your bodyguard detail?"

"I don't have a say in the matter Ms. Nichols." Francis refused to give her the response she wanted.

Barely resisting the urge to stick her tongue out at him Rory went back to the ad and headed for the elevator. "Actually I was referring to the job at the morgue."

That got a response from Francis. "You're not serious."

"Of course I am." Rory pronounced. "Think of it I can be Sonny's inside man."

"I think you'd need surgery before that happened." Francis returned just as seriously.

"Smart ass." The comment flew out of her mouth an instant before her laughter. Rory was still laughing when the doors opened on the 15th floor and unless she was mistaken she'd even managed to get a disguised cough/chuckle out of the stoic Mr. Francis as well.

Exiting the elevator she went in search of the correct suite number and was already concocting her next volley in her ongoing verbal sparring war with Mr. Francis. Finding the door at the far end of the hall she came up short when she read the nameplate on the door. Surprised she double-checked the ad, then shrugged, cursed mentally at the foolishness of that move and then opened the door.

The sight that greeted her was both spacious and immaculate. A small seating area on her left had a focal point of an artful array of magazines. On the right a chair set near a small table held a lamp and a beautiful crystal vase. Experience told her the crystal would fetch one hell of a price on the open market, as would the prints hanging on the walls. There were stylish file cabinets behind what had to be the most pristine Chippendale desk she'd ever seen in or out of a magazine. Near the desk there were other pieces of antique furniture that rounded out the opulence of the room. The allure of the wood was broken up by what had to be the shiniest sterling silver tea set ever. It gleamed in the light the way a diamond would.

Everywhere she looked she saw expensive taste and class. That was a pairing that had served her well in life. Habit had her categorizing every article in the room and making a preliminary estimate on the resale value. She could probably fence just about everything in the office and not have to worry about working for a few years, possibly more if she use Franky G from Jersey to fence the merchandise.

Gradually she became aware of Mr. Francis' eyes on her and couldn't help but flush when she met his gaze. It seemed that those knowing chocolate brown eyes knew exactly what she was thinking. Uneasy at the thought she took off her coat handed it to him, walked past the desk to the door it seemed to be guarding.

Upon reaching the door Rory took a moment to take a deep breath to center herself, then straightened her back, knocked once and opened the door before any reply could be given. Her rush to enter had something to do with the need to leave the pristine office behind. Rooms like that made her nervous. She always felt she had ink on her face, or had her clothes on inside out when she was faced with obvious perfection. The inner sanctum however was a place that Rory instantly felt at ease. Where the outer office was pristine, almost anal, this space was cluttered to the point of messiness. In other words it felt like home, and Rory couldn't be more pleased at the discovery.

Alexis Davis sat behind a desk, in front of 3 bay windows. Only the top of her head was visible at the moment given the amount of paperwork, both lose and in files that were piled precariously on her desk. Other files, as well as five-inch binders littered the floor around her desk and gradually worked their way outward to the room as a whole. Rory could see a small path probably no bigger than a woman's foot that if followed single file could lead it's way through the maze of folders and binders to the door and then back to the desk. Alexis was definitely a woman after her own heart.

Without warning the rest of Alexis became visible as she stood up from behind her desk. Confusion marred her expression but she said nothing just waved Rory closer and kept listening to the phone she had glued to her ear. "I understand Judge Telesca I'll be as brief as I can. As our brief makes clear, evidence that has never been mentioned, tested for accuracy, or even made known to the defense, can not suddenly be introduced at the last second when the prosecution's case falls apart and they make a last ditch effort to try to salvage it. Prevailing court law and statute is clear in this case, the evidence must be suppressed." Her words pissed off the DA, as she knew they would and he started his blustery retort, ignoring that she began to dig through the papers on her desk.

Rory watched in fascination, as Alexis seemed to navigate the mound of papers, shifting some onto files that already looked in danger of falling off the desk. Miraculously none fell as she continued her search for something and half listened to the man on the other end of the phone. After a few more minutes of digging a triumphant grin graced Alexis' face as she unearthed a Butterfinger bar from somewhere on her desk. Looking very much like a Cheshire cat, Alexis leaned back and began unwrapping the chocolate bar.

"You're honor. Regardless of the reasons or the continuing histrionics of my esteeeemed," she intentionally drew the word out, "colleague the fact remains the evidence cannot be introduced at this late date. The state has rested, the defense has rested all that is left is closing remarks and charging the jury. You know as well as I do, as well as the New York Court of Appeal does, and as well as the U.S. Supreme Court does, there are procedures that are sacred in all cases. ADA Attler can't be allowed a pass in this case because he made a mistake and didn't disclose evidence that would have been useful to his case to us in discovery and now regrets that fact."

It took another two minutes of hemming and hawing but the ruling was a foregone conclusion and they all knew it. Alexis also knew she had made yet another enemy in the District Attorney's office. It wasn't her fault they weren't prepared. There were times she wished they were better, she enjoyed a challenge and lately challenges had been few and far between. Taking a big bite of her candy bar she shifted her focus to her latest client.

"Remind me not to piss you off." Rory commented.

"Did we," Alexis swallowed hard. "Did we have an appointment?"

"No," Rory sat up straighter in her chair. "I'm here about your ad in the paper for temporary office help. I'd like to apply for the job."

Saying nothing Alexis leaned back to study the woman before her.

"As you know I recently came into town and circumstances have arisen that extend my visit indefinitely. As such I wanted to find a job. I don't like to be idle, I like to work, and most importantly I like challenges." Alexis said nothing so Rory continued on. "I'm familiar with most word processing systems and my typing speed is in the upper 80's per minute the last time I was checked. I'm very good with machinery and am quite capable of fixing most copiers, printers, computers, or fax machines if they break down. I'm also quite charming when I make the effort so I can meet and greet your clients with no problem. I speak perfect English so my phone presence is strong. I'm bilingual so if the need for a Spanish interpreter comes up I can be of assistance. I have tremendous organization skills and can provide you with a resume along with a list of references."

"And would the references be legitimate ones? Ones with your real name and real age?" Alexis asked.

Rory bristled but didn't let it show. Obviously there was a reason Alexis was an attorney. "I have office experience and yes you can verify it. If you'd like I can give you a phone number that you can call and check right now."

Unsure Alexis pulled off her glasses and began twisting them in her fingers while she considered her options. There was something about Rory that called to her, but the fact that she was a client could make things awkward between them. Besides as much as Rory just told her, Alexis was confident there was considerably more in her past that she hadn't told her.

"There's one more thing." Rory waited for Alexis' nod before going on. "I happen to be very well acquainted with two of your more notorious clients, in fact one of them I am intimately acquainted with. Therefore any privacy and or security concerns you may have in bringing an outsider into your office and their potential to look in files they shouldn't won't be an issue." The longer she sat trying to convince Alexis to hire her the more she wanted the job. They hadn't discussed hours, salary, or even duties, but she wanted it. She had a gut feeling that working here would be good for he and her gut feelings were ones she rarely ignored.

Alexis couldn't help but smile at Rory's carefully veiled references to Jason and Sonny and conceded that she did have a point. One of the reasons she had so much trouble keeping help was because of her two notorious clients, not to mention other people they brought in with them. Some of the people she'd hired in the past were so curious about anything relating to Sonny Corinthos that they would read every scrap of paper looking for an indention that held secret messages. Or they came in thinking they could find information that would get Sonny arrested and get it to the cops. People were foolish, so foolish in fact, that she had taken to keeping most of her information for the Corinthos/Morgan Coffee Warehouse at her home, much to Jax's dismay.

"Can you start tomorrow?" Alexis asked after another moment of thought and couldn't help responding in kind when Rory smiled at her question.

**Kelly's**

"Quit trying to change the subject." Nikolas struggled to orient his thoughts. He'd deal with the unexpected revelation regarding Emily and Zander later. The important thing now was to find out what Lucky was up to concerning Rory. And since it appeared that some of Lucky's mental faculties had returned he was going to need to be on the top of his game.

"And what subject is that? The way that every few years you feel the need to mess with Emily's head and break her heart?" Lucky's words were designed to deflect but they were also true. He didn't want to see Emily hurt by Nikolas yet again.

"The subject is your obsession with proving that Rory Nichols is really the long dead Elizabeth Webber." Hardening his heart to the pain on Lucky's face Nikolas decided it was time for some trademark Cassadine cruelty. "Why you continue to believe Elizabeth could be alive even after an autopsy was conducted on her body to determine cause of death, a DNA test was conducted to prove identity, and later she was embalmed and buried, is beyond me."

For a second all Lucky could do was stand there and stare at his brother in shock as the cold imagery of the words washed over him. Eventually shock faded into anger and he launched himself at a prepared Nikolas who parried the attack and shoved him back. Caught off balance Lucky teetered on one side of the bed then tipped over it and crashed to the floor.

"How could you…" Lucky started as he got to his knees.

"Be such a bastard and tell you the truth?" Nikolas interrupted viciously. "Because you need to hear the truth. You say you're not a drunk anymore. You say your taking charge of your life. Great I hope you are. Because of these changes I don't have to coddle you anymore. I don't have to protect you or cater to you and you're off base beliefs because you're too fragile to hear the truth. Your no longer to fragile to hear that there is no way your dead fiancée is suddenly back in the form of a woman who doesn't know you, who doesn't want to know you, and most importantly is in love with another man." Nikolas inhaled hard then continued his attack. "Face the truth Lucky. Elizabeth is dead. She's been dead for years now and no amount of wishing or conniving is going to turn Rory Nichols into Elizabeth."

Lucky reeled under the onslaught of his brother's attack. The cruelty of the words was astonishing and they hurt. What Nikolas was saying hurt him even though he believed them to be false. He knew Rory was really Elizabeth, yet the ring of conviction in his brother's voice was hard for him to bear. "How can you belittle Elizabeth like this?" Lucky demanded after a minute of fighting the pain. "I thought she was your friend."

"She _was_ my friend." Nikolas snapped and the emotion he had kept buried for years finally came out of him in a rage. "She was my friend and I lost her that night too. I lost her but I wasn't allowed to grieve for her. I couldn't miss her because I had to focus on getting you through your selfish, selfish grief." He was surprised by the words but they were true. The anger had been long buried and hidden inside of him but no more. "You weren't the only one who lost Elizabeth that day you selfish bastard. You were just the only one who was allowed to feel any pain."

Stunned by the pain and anger he saw in his brother's eyes Lucky took a seat on the bed and tried to comprehend just how bad the last two years had been for the people around him. He had buried himself inside of one bottle after another to try to hide from the pain of his loss while others were forced to grieve both for Elizabeth and in a sense him.

Nikolas pulled out the chair from the desk and drew it near the bed. "Don't you realize how much it hurts me, Emily, everyone who cares about you when you insist that Rory is really Elizabeth? We already lost her and now you're asking us to open ourselves up to that pain all over again. But most of all you're asking us, your asking me to stand by and watch this new obsession destroy you when you finally realize that Elizabeth isn't Rory."

Lucky automatically shook his head at the words. But Nikolas wouldn't let him deny. "Elizabeth is dead and you need to let her go. She wouldn't want you to keep destroying yourself in her memory and she sure as hell wouldn't want you to keep taking others with you when you do."

That got his attention. "What others?"

"Do you really believe that Emily will ever be able to walk away from you while you're in pain? Do you think she'll move away and go to college while she's so worried about you? Do you think I'll leave town while you're like this?" Nikolas stated the obvious. "Then there's Laura."

When Lucky shook his head. Nikolas snapped. "Whether you want to believe it or not she's your mother and she loves you. Knowing you're in pain hurts her. Then there's Lulu. She never knows which brother is going to show up. Will it be the one that makes her laugh and teaches her how to make paper puppets, or will it be the one who smells like her daddy smells late at night."

Those words so casually delivered finally drove home how low he had sunk in the past two years. Lucky was devastated at how bad he had let himself get, but at the same time he was determined never to get like that again. There was going to be no more hiding from the pain. He would face it, no matter how much it hurt and he wouldn't let his sister or his friends down again.

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

Lucky jolted when Nikolas seemingly read his mind.

"Will you keep an open mind about Elizabeth?" Lucky asked after a long minute.

Irritated and defeated Nikolas rose and only years of training kept him from lashing out at the chair in frustration. "There's nothing to keep an open mind about. Elizabeth's dead. She's been dead for more then two years now."

"She's alive and I'll prove it to you, I'll prove it to everyone." Lucky vowed.

"If you continue with this you'll destroy yourself." Nikolas warned him.

"You said I was destroying myself by drinking my life away." Lucky reminded him. "If that's true and you're right this is just a more active way of destroying myself."

"Is that supposed to be a joke?"

Lucky shrugged.

"I can't stop you can I?" Nikolas queried.

"No. I'm going to get her back." He promised his brother and himself.

"And when you fail who is supposed to get you back?" Nikolas questioned. Lucky didn't reply and Nikolas knew that he'd done all he could for the moment so he picked up his coat and walked out the door.

**General Hospital**

Bone-weary and thinking of nothing more than taking off her shoes and grabbing a quick cat nap on her couch, Dr. Monica Quartermaine opened the door to her office, then came to a quick halt immediately past the threshold at the unusual tableau before her. Her children, all three of her children were in the same room, and there was no fighting going on. No blood being shed, something was very wrong. When they seemingly turned as one to look at her, Monica had a strong urge to turn around and walk out of her office and never come back. Shaking off the uneasy feeling Monica continued her entry into the room. "This is a surprise. But a welcome one I must say." Her smile was genuine when she turned and perched on the edge of her desk, to face the room.

During the interminable wait for Monica they hadn't discussed how or who would broach the subject of a possible return of her cancer. Now that the time had finally arrived it was Emily who took the lead. "I know … we know about the biopsy mom, and we know you canceled your appointment."

Stunned Monica could only formulate one single word. "How?"

"When I was here last week I picked up one of your papers by mistake, it was information about your appointment. Later I called the clinic pretending to be your secretary, they told me you canceled your appointment and hadn't rescheduled it." By the time she'd finished her tone had turned accusatory.

"Why didn't you tell us mom? Does dad know?" AJ asked. Issues with Jason were long forgotten in light of his overriding concern for his mother, he made an unconscious move to stand next to his brother and sister in a united front.

"Because it's my business." Put on the defensive Monica did what every Quartermaine did best, she lashed out.

"Your health and the potential return of your cancer is the whole family's business," AJ corrected her. He recognized the signs of denial in her eyes. They had been there years ago, when people had first tried to tell her about his drinking.

Striving to gain some balance some semblance of control Monica moved behind her desk to assume a position of power.

"Mom you know that a possible recurrence is a serious thing." AJ began then gestured to the room at large. "We've all read the research, we all know the statistics. Early diagnosis especially in a recurrence increases your odds of survival."

"That's right it's _my_ survival, _my_ statistics, _my_ possible recurrence." Cornered Monica lashed out.

"You can't honestly believe that if you have cancer we wouldn't care or wouldn't be effected by it can you?" Silent up until that point Jason felt compelled to chime in.

Surprised Monica focused on him. When she met his cool assessing gaze she felt the need to explain her behavior. "I planned on getting the biopsy done, then Rory had her accident and…."

"Don't." Jason practically hissed the word. "Don't use her as an excuse. Rory's been out of the hospital for almost a week now. You didn't reschedule the appointment for some other reason not because of Rory's injury."

The tension in the room was rapidly rising to a boiling point. There were too many people in the room and each carried such strong emotions and strong opinions that when their opinions differed, and the subject was this personal, explosions were inevitable. Emily had been silent since her opening salvo. Her emotions were in such a state of flux with everything she'd been through. First there was her potential pregnancy scare, which coincided with her potential rape scare. Her fear of what Zander had done to her along with the knowledge of Zander had in fact done to her, and what he'd been intending to do to her. Her confusing relationship with Nikolas…. The list could go on and on and it was hard for her to know what was real and what wasn't. But she recognized the look in Monica's eye it was a look she was intimately familiar with. "You're afraid."

Her quiet words stalled any others that might have been in the process of being formed by the other people in the room and caused Monica to stiffen.

"Don't bother to deny it. I know you're scared." Emily continued on just as quietly. "My mother was when she felt another lump after having beaten breast cancer the first time. She couldn't believe that the cancer could return she wouldn't let herself believe it had returned. Because of that she pushed off seeing a doctor. She ignored the signs for so long, she deluded herself, she deluded me all because of her fear. You see she read the same research AJ was talking about, but she never got past the statistics part, where it says that people are more likely to die if they have a recurrence."

Emily paused for a moment remembering. The image was still a perfect picture in her mind, so vivid it was only a blink away. Suddenly she wasn't in an office next to her brothers looking at Monica, she was back in a small two-bedroom apartment looking at her mother who could no longer keep the fear from her eyes.

"I can still remember the smell of the apartment that cold morning. Mom had made me cinnamon toast, my favorite and the cinnamon smell had wafted down the hall and woken me up. I know people think that Arizona is hot, because of the desert, but it gets cold there especially in the mornings. In the wintertime there is always frost on the windows, even as you overlook the mountains that lead into the desert. That particular morning the toast turned soggy on the table, the steam from her coffee fizzled and went cold as mom stared out that frost-covered window at the rising sun. When she finally turned around I knew. I may have only been 11 but I knew. The cancer was back and this time it was going to win."

Tears slipped unnoticed from her eyes but her voice never wavered, her gaze remained locked on Monica but what she saw were memories of years past. "I can't tell you how many nights I cried myself to sleep wondering what if she had been diagnosed sooner. How many nights I cursed her in that special way that kids have, blaming her because she let the fear control her and now she was going to die. And because she was a coward I was being brought to this strange place where everybody yelled and fought with each other."

Blinking Emily brought her second mother back into focus and ignored the tearstains she saw on Monica's face. "Would she have survived if she'd gone to the doctor the first time she felt that lump? We'll never know. But her odds would have been a lot higher then they were when she was pretending there was nothing wrong with her. I've lost one mother to a mixture of fear and cancer. I'm not going to stand by and watch another mother die the same needless death." With that Emily picked up her coat and walked out of the office.

Rocked to her core Monica brought a shaky hand to her mouth to stifle a sob. She'd barely managed two breaths when Jason turned and focused on her.

"I didn't want to know you at first. And you sure didn't want to know me. In the beginning all you ever hoped for when you looked at me was to see your son Jason looking back at you. But that would never be. Somewhere along the line you accepted that and you decided to get to know me." He hesitated then went on the words coming of their own accord. "I didn't make it easy for you. I shoved you away. I ignored you, I hurt you repeatedly, but you always came back. You kept trying no matter what I did."

His voice was quiet but that was in stark contrast to the unusual emotional storm visible in his light blue eyes. "You kept coming back until something I never thought would happen did. I began to care about you. Not because Robin told me I should because I owed the Jason of before, but because I just did. Eventually that caring even grew to love." He saw the shocked expression on her face and nodded. "I do love you mom. You finally got through to me. So are you really going to quit on me now?" Jason asked. The emotions building inside of him were threatening to spill out so he followed his sister's lead and stalked out of the room, the slam of the door the only testament to his emotional state.

Monica reached desperate for support and gripped the back of her chair to hold her upright at the unexpected emotional assault from two of her children.

"Well," AJ cleared his throat to swallow the hard lump of emotion that had lodged there. "That's a pretty hard act for me to follow. If this were a contest I'd definitely be the loser."

When Monica turned to give him a watery glare he held up a hand to fend off the rebuke. "That wasn't a complaint or a whine, or the start of the woe is me complex that you're so familiar with, it was just an observation. Emily and Jason spoke to you from the heart and that's what I'm going to do as well."

Unsure if she could handle anymore, yet incapable to stop him Monica sunk into her chair and eyed her most tortured child warily.

"I know it doesn't look like it and I sure don't act like it but you're my rock mom. You're the one person in the world that I can count on." AJ brushed a tear from his cheek and another quickly replaced it. "You always know when to be brutal with me and cut me off for my own good, and when to reach out to me. You knew how and would stand up for me even when I couldn't stand up for myself. And all these things were done out of love. You managed to love me, even when I couldn't love myself. No matter how many times and how many ways I messed up you were always willing to give me another chance once I cleaned up my act."

AJ's voice broke and he had to pause a long time before he could go on. "Emily's right. Cancer is a scary word especially for you. But there are two words that don't belong in the Quartermaine vernacular and that is running away. When you're ready to fight mom I'll be your rock for a change." With that AJ pivoted and followed his siblings out of the office.

How long she sat there listening to her hiccuping breaths in the gradually darkening room Monica didn't know. She wasn't aware if hours had passed or if it had only been minutes when she reached a shaky hand for the phone and dialed a number from memory. "It's Monica. I'm ready to have that biopsy." The words came out in a rush as soon as the phone was answered on the other end.

"Tomorrow?" Ingrained habit had her reaching for her appointment book but at the last second she stopped and left it closed. "I'll make myself available. I'll see you in the morning."

Monica hung up the phone and finally gave in to the temptation that had been building steadily inside of her ever since she'd found the lump a few weeks earlier, she began to cry. Soon simply crying wasn't enough, the tears turned into a storm of weeping followed by the agony of sobs.

**Apartment 1G**

"What?" Zander Smith snarled as he opened the door. The pounding that had been going on for minutes now, seemed to continue although this time it was localized inside his head. "Sonny?" He couldn't hide his surprise at the unexpected identity of his visitor.

"Zander." Sonny nodded his sharp eyes recognized the signs of a hangover easily enough. "Get your jacket were going for a walk."

The tone of voice was one you didn't argue with and Zander immediately obeyed. It was only when he was pulling on the coat that he wondered if it was a good idea or not. "You know I don't have a lot of time. I'm supposed to meet someone."

"This won't take long." Sonny offered him a reassuring smile and waited until the last possible second before turning his expression into one similar to that of a predator stalking its prey. He knew Zander caught the change when the boy did a double take.

Johnny opened the door, Sonny exited followed slowly by Zander. "Who are they?" He asked as two men in suits brushed by him and went inside his apartment after he walked out of it.

"Don't worry about them. They won't steal anything." Sonny led the way and Johnny nudged Zander along before bringing up the rear.

Zander was feeling decidedly nervous. He knew this unexpected visit had something to do with Emily and that made him wonder just how much the pipsqueak mobster knew. He'd been replaying his last confrontation with Emily over and over in his mind and some of her comments made him wonder if she didn't have some sort of an idea what he'd been planning. Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind he dismissed it. Emily was too naïve and sweet to ever think of anything so diabolical or intricate as his plan. And since her Neanderthal brother hadn't been around trying to kill him, it was a safe bet she didn't have a clue as to what his ultimate plan had been. Sonny's appearance, although unusual, did not give him the fear that Jason's unexpected appearance would've. Given the mentality and proclivity for violence of the brain damaged thug if Morgan ever found out he'd been conspiring to knock his little sister up he had a feeling that he wouldn't be asked politely to go for a walk.

"I think this is far enough." Sonny announced after several minutes of walking.

In spite of his earlier bravado and reasoning Zander couldn't help a hard swallow as he scanned the area and realized that other than the three of them the place was very desolate. There were decades old apartment buildings on either side of the street but the people that lived in those buildings had learned long ago when to pay attention to things and when to turn up the TV. "Far enough for what?" Conscious of Johnny's presence behind him he couldn't help but tense.

"I brought you here to discuss your future." Sonny clapped his gloved hands to together and rubbed them in anticipation. "With Sorel in jail, Alexis getting the kidnapping charges and abuse of a corpse charges against you dropped, and since you and Emily are no longer together I was thinking it was time for you to move on and make a fresh start somewhere else. Some place where no one knows your history and you can get a fair shot."

"I don't believe this." Outraged Zander went from worried to pissed in a matter of seconds. "You don't have a right to tell me what to do with my life. And even if you did, you got some of your facts wrong."

Sonny decided to let one claim go for now in order to concentrate on the other one. "And what facts are those?"

"Emily and I aren't broken up. We've had a fight and are having problems at the moment. But we love each other and we'll work things out. We always do. There's no way I'm walking away from her. If your getting your information from Jason I'm not surprised he got things wrong, he's not exactly the sharpest person in the room." Angry and arrogant Zander forgot to be cautious.

The slam of his best friend only served to make Sonny angrier and as a response his voice got even softer. If Zander knew Sonny at all he would know that the quieter he spoke the more deadly the man became. "It's my turn to correct you on some facts Zander. You put marks on her. I saw them myself. She told you to stay away from her, and yet you follow her wherever she goes. You accost the people around her trying to get near her. You threaten her friends, the people close to her all in an attempt to get her to talk to you."

One second Sonny was listing Zander's sins the next he had the boy in a vise like grip. His fingers were tight on the pressure points on the back of Zander's neck driving the boy down. Sonny moved fast, fast enough that Johnny was as surprised as Zander. "And now you have the nerve to throw my name around like some talisman. Expecting it to excuse you from being a bullying jackass and expect people to jump to your every command."

"Let me go." Zander struggled against the hold but felt his body getting weaker and weaker against the pain.

Ignoring his plea Sonny decided it was time to educate the boy in the facts of the world. 'Your first mistake was putting your hands on Emily. If you had let her she would have been the best thing in your life. She was far better than a punk like you ever deserved but you treated her like trash and threw her away. Your second mistake was using my name and thinking you could get away with it. I spent years building up the respect that goes along with my name and I'm not about to let some punk kid trash it. Your last mistake was thinking I would choose you over my family. You have a lot to learn about loyalty boy." When his fingers began to go numb he let Zander go and the boy promptly fell to his knees.

"Johnny." Holding out his hand a crisp white envelope was promptly slapped in it. "Here's a First Class ticket from La Guardia to Atlanta. Where you go from there is up to you. There are some airline vouchers in here if you want to use them." Sonny waited for Zander to get to his feet before continuing. "There's also some cash in here. Let's call it seed money for your new life far away from Port Charles."

Zander automatically caught the envelope that was tossed at him. From the feel of it there was quite a lot of seed money contained inside of it. Money was always good but being run out of town infuriated him. He wasn't ready to leave. There was a lot left for him to accomplish here in Port Charles especially with Emily. There was no way he was walking away from her after he spent so much time setting things up so perfectly. "You can't tell me where I can or can't live."

"That's correct," agreeable Sonny nodded and began walking back the way they came. "However you might find that life in Port Charles can get to be a very uncomfortable place to live. Strange things happen every day in this world. Life could be perfect one day then the next a fire could ravage your home. A person could lose their job, or even be confused with the local child molester and revenge is extracted on him by mistake."

Horrified Zander came to a stop. "You'd set me up?"

"Did I say anything about a set up?" Sonny asked benignly.

"You…" Zander began by pointing a finger in Sonny's direction.

"Now you listen to me." Sonny cut him off with a wave of the hand. "I'm grateful for what you did in getting rid of Sorel. But we both know you did that more to save your own sorry skin then to help me. Besides my gratitude only goes so far and you've used that up." He inched closer. "Its true I can't stop you from coming back to Port Charles. I just want you to be real clear on what will happen if you do. If you come back you'll be nothing more than a stranger to me. But if you go near Emily again … you'll be my enemy."

Leaving him with that warning Sonny turned and headed for the car knowing that Johnny would bring the kid along eventually. Soon the car came into view and the sight of it made him eager to be gone. "Adam and Max packed up your stuff while we were gone and Adam will take you to the airport and make sure you get on the plane." The words were tossed over his shoulder as he climbed in the back seat of one of the waiting cars. It wasn't long before the front door opened and Johnny joined him.

"Did he put up a fight?"

"The kids too shocked to do anything but move where I tell him to." Johnny replied.

Sonny nodded thoughtfully. He'd done his best for Emily and by extension Jason. She had wanted Zander gone but not hurt if he could help it and he tried to do that for her. If the punk was foolish enough to make a return visit to town Emily would have to understand that this sort of treatment wouldn't be offered a second time to Zander. "I'd like to think we've seen the last of him. But punks like him have a bad habit of turning up at the worst time. Put the word out on the network if anyone sees Zander Smith in town I want to know about it."

**Docks**

What was it about the sound of water that made whatever tension you had bottled up inside of you seemingly seep away? Emily didn't know but the longer she stood on the docks listening to the water as it lapped against the pylons the clearer her mind became and the anger that she was feeling slowly began to fade away,

She didn't know how long she'd been standing there or even how she'd made her way to the docks to begin with. Her last clear memory had been reliving her mother's death in an attempt to save her second mother's life. The confrontation with Monica had drained her, the whole week had drained her. Telling Jason and AJ about what she'd discovered about Monica's health and getting them to agree to a face-to-face meeting to confront her about it had been hard. Keeping AJ and Jason in the same room without fighting, sniping, or stalking out in disgust after five minutes was such a daunting task Emily never had time to consider what she would say to Monica when the meeting actually happened.

When the moment finally arrived she had been submerged with memories of what happened to her mother and the bitterness and anger that she had never been able to show her mother had finally found a voice. How could you be angry with someone because they were dying? But how could you not be angry if there was a chance to stop the sickness before death was the ultimate outcome? She meant what she told Monica. She wouldn't standby and watch another mother die due to a mixture of fear and a damn disease.

"I'll leave first." Emily promised the water then almost toppled into it when a hand fell on her shoulder. Instantly the hold tightened, pulling her back and turning her away from the water.

"What do you mean you'll leave?" Nikolas asked.

"Don't do that." Emily ordered and did her best to slow the frantic beat of her heart. "You shouldn't sneak up on a person like that."

"I'd hardly call it sneaking when you've been standing behind a person for several minutes waiting for them to notice you." Nikolas countered.

"You were watching me?" Unnerved Emily took a step away and belatedly realized he still had a hold of her arm. The knowledge of Nikolas' ingrained manners were something she used and abused quite frequently. He never pushed to hard or crossed to many formal barriers without her permission because the etiquette that had been drilled into him since birth wouldn't let him. So when she pulled on her arm he immediately let go and she backed up.

"I wasn't watching I was merely waiting for you. It was clear that you were trying to work through something and judging from your expression it seemed to be very serious and I wanted to give you time to do that." Catching her unaware he closed the distance she had so carefully put between them. "I wanted your mind to be clear when we had our talk."

Emily paled at his words but held her ground. Emotionally she felt like she had been pushed to the limit and she was tired of it. It was past time for her to start pushing back. "I wasn't aware we had a talk scheduled. I'm sure I didn't see it on my social calendar."

Although he didn't care for her flip response Nikolas was careful not to show his irritation. She wanted a fight and he wasn't about to oblige her. "You must not have listened to any of the hundred or so messages I left for you in the past several days then."

"I get a lot of messages." Emily again tried for dismissive and used the guise to move away from him to sit on the small bench in between the stairs. "What did you want to talk about?"

"I," Nikolas started then stopped. This attitude from Emily wasn't one he was used to seeing and he wasn't quite sure how to handle it or her.

"Yes?" Emily glanced at her watch then up at him with a bored expression on her face. "I have a meeting in a few minutes," she bluffed, "speak now or forever hold your peace."

The dismissal stung and brought the Prince inside of him to the fore and his tone turned superior. "Alright if that's the way you want to play it. I want to know why you felt the need to lie to me the last we saw each other."

Surprised by the unexpected question and his unusually sharp tone Emily's illusion of poise and control began to crumble. "I don't know what you mean."

Seeing the cracks Nikolas changed tracks. "You're meeting in a few minutes is it with Zander?"

Instinct had her changing her answer at the last second. "Not that it's any of your business but no."

"Then answer my question," he paused then challenged. "If you can."

Furious Emily shot to her feet. "What question?"

"Why did you lie to me about meeting Zander the other night?" Emily took a step away and Nikolas caught her before she could take another one. "You and Zander broke up. So why did you lie and tell me you were meeting him when you weren't?"

Desperate and feeling cornered Emily's eyes darted everywhere looking for escape but there was none.

"Answer me."

"You don't want me to." Emily warned him as the emotion she'd been fighting to control began churning inside of her all over again.

"Yes I do. Talk to me Emily. Tell me the truth." Nikolas kept a hold of her hands and pressed for answers.

Her eyes darted away to the water and stayed there for a long minute before turning back to meet his. "I said it to get away from you. I lied to get away from you."

Stung Nikolas dropped her hands.

Down the docks laughter rang out filling the air with its sound. In fact laughter was a sound that seemed to follow this particular pair wherever they went. Of course most of the laughter seemed to come from the smallest of the pair. It wasn't that the man didn't want to laugh it was just he wouldn't let himself no matter how much the woman tried to make him.

"Were you serious about working at the morgue?" Francis asked during a lull in the conversation.

"Absolutely." Rory's answer was immediate. "Next to the position with Alexis it was definitely the top job of all the possibilities we've seen this week." It took her a second to realize that she was walking alone. "Mr. Francis?"

"Yesterday you said you thought the Oasis was the best place for you to work." He reminded her sharply.

Rory grinned at his expression. "Now Mr. Francis you know I only applied at the Bucket of Blood and the Oasis to get you all worked up and make the tops of your ears turn pink, kind of like they're doing now. Did you know your ears turn pink whenever you get flustered or uncomfortable?"

Francis couldn't stop the groan from escaping his lips. God help him if Johnny or the other guys ever picked up on that fact he'd never hear the end of it. Knowing that a glare would be wasted on the incorrigible devil he was currently guarding. Francis decided to continue on his way to the warehouse. He'd barely taken a step when Rory fell in next to him and worked her hand through the crook of his arm and began humming.

"Why?" Nikolas finally managed to find his voice but it sounded mangled to his ears.

"I told you," Emily cried, "I told you time and again but you never wanted to hear me. I think we need to rethink our friendship. In order to do that I don't think we should spend so much time together. If you knew I broke up with Zander you'd be worried about me. Wondering if I was okay yet at the same time thrilled I finally got rid of him. You don't need to be thinking about me especially now when you should be thinking about your trip with Gia." Nikolas would never know how much those words and the smile on her face cost her.

"My trip?" Nikolas parroted.

"Actually your trip couldn't have come at a better time if you think about it. We'll both get used to not seeing each other every day and that can only be a good thing. By the time you return we'll be used to not seeing each other." The wind had come up suddenly and began whipping her hair around her face and into her eyes. She attributed the sudden stinging behind her eyes to that. "Its time for me to go. I have a meeting to get to."

"No," he snapped and stepped in front of her again. Gone was the stunned man who had been caught off guard by her words. In his place was a man, a very determined looking man. "This is where the misunderstandings are going to stop."

"I don't…"

"Be quiet Emily," he snapped causing her to blink in surprise. "You've had your chance to talk and now it's my turn. First off I'm not going out of town with Gia. I never was. I told her I wasn't going shortly after she made her stunning announcement in Kelly's. Had you bothered to return any of my phone calls this week you would have known that." His tone was one Stefan had taught him to use when dealing with difficult subjects and it appeared to be working with a stunned and silent Emily.

"Emily," his tone softened and when he touched her cold cheek she didn't pull away. "Did you really think I would leave you now? How could I do that to you? You have so much going on, with your mom and whatever your other secret is that you refuse to tell me about, not to mention trying to keep Lucky from doing something crazy. How could I leave you now?"

Did she have the right to feel disappointed? Was screaming until she was hoarse out of the question for her? His words were sweet and no doubt prompted out of the legitimate feelings he had for her, but no matter how well intentioned or comforting his words were meant to be all they caused her was pain and she was so tired of pain. She decided it was time to inflict pain on someone else for a change. "It's easy to leave Nikolas. You've done it to me before. The only difference is that this time you'll actually be leaving town as well."

Emily brushed past him before he could recover from her unexpected verbal attack. She didn't bother trying to leave knowing that his stunned immobility would only be fleeting. She knew Nikolas well enough to know that he wouldn't be giving up anytime soon but she on the other hand, didn't know how much more she could take. Then she spotted what could either be her salvation or damnation coming towards her. "Rory." Emily called out before she could talk herself out of it.

Surprised at the unexpected hail Rory faltered a step then gave a tentative wave in return.

"You meeting her?" Francis asked as he gently pried Rory's fingers free of where she had clamped down on his wrist.

"No." Rory was curious about Emily's welcoming smile. The last time she'd seen her things between them had been awkward to say the least. When she saw the man who suddenly appeared behind Emily her questions were answered and she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. "Why don't you go to the warehouse and pick up your paycheck and I'll wait here with Emily."

"No." Francis immediately shook his head. He knew better than to let her out of his sight.

Recognizing the look in his eye Rory turned serious. "I promise not to move from the docks. You'll be able to see me from the doors of the warehouse." She could see the refusal on his lips and played her trump card. "I'll be on the docks with Jason's sister. You can hardly put my safety above hers now can you?"

"Emily." Nikolas gabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. "What the hell did you mean by that?"

"I meant what I said." Emily tried to pull free but for once he didn't let go.

"Are you trying to hurt me?" His dark eyes showed the pain her words had inflicted.

"No." Feeling herself beginning to weaken Emily strove to fight it off. "Hurting is what you do."

"I have never deliberately hurt you," he argued softly.

"No." She agreed and blinked against the sting of tears that couldn't be blamed on the wind. "You do your damage unintentionally and somehow that worse."

Her quiet words so obviously from the heart seemed to devastate them both and silence fell.

"Sorry I'm late Emily." Rory interrupted the tense scene by calling out from a few feet away. She turned and looked meaningfully at Francis who responded with a warning glare then turned and hurried for the warehouse.

Wrenching her eyes from Nikolas Emily could have screamed in relief, she took a step in Rory's direction and brushed away the lone tear that slipped past her guard. "Actually your timing is perfect. Nikolas and I were just finished."

Judging from the look on Nikolas' face Rory doubted that but wisely kept her opinion to herself.

Mind reeling and having been well-schooled in the art of warfare Nikolas knew the value of a strategic retreat at times in order to win the war. Turning he smiled at Rory. "I'm glad to see you've recovered from your accident." His attention moved to Emily who refused to meet his eyes. "We'll continue our discussion at another time." With that final salvo he took his leave.

Rory waited for him to disappear up the steps before letting out a low whistle. "That was intense."

Worried by his parting shot. Emily merely nodded. Suddenly she felt so tired, all she wanted to do was crawl in her bed and sleep for about a week straight.

Sighing regretfully Rory stuffed her hands in her pockets and turned to look at the water. "You don't have to stay. I know you only called me over to get rid of him." When Emily flinched Rory knew she was correct.

"I'm sorry it's just." Emily stopped unsure of what to say or how to say it to Rory. She couldn't help feeling uncomfortable around the older woman. She wasn't blind she knew that her behavior hurt Rory but she couldn't seem to help it.

"It's okay." Rory shrugged like it didn't matter and was about to let the matter go entirely when she hesitated. Emily was too important to Jason for things to continue on like this between her and his sister. Jason wasn't blind he knew something was going on between them. She had to find a way to make things easier between them so he wouldn't feel uncomfortable. When she saw Francis making his way in their direction she held up a hand to stop him which he did well out of earshot.

"I wanted to apologize to you about the other day." Rory turned to look at Emily who flinched. "I hurt your feelings and although it was unintentional on my part it still happened and for that I'm sorry."

Surprised Emily didn't know what to say.

"Your Jason's sister and someone I thought was turning into a friend and I really don't want to make things even more awkward between us but there's something else you need to know about our discussion the other day." Rory continued.

Nervous and uncomfortable Emily turned away to watch the water. The last thing she wanted to do was rehash their last conversation, yet she made no attempt to stop her.

"I shouldn't have gone on the way I did about Zander's plan. It was brutal and somewhere along the way I forgot that not only was I talking to the intended victim I was also talking to someone who at one time cared very deeply for Zander." Rory took a step closer when Emily continued to look away. "I've never been accused of being a very tactful person. In other words I put my foot in it quite a lot and obviously I did that the other day."

When Emily still didn't speak Rory realized her hopes for friendship were probably gone, sighing tiredly she nevertheless decided to finish. "There is one thing I want you to know and believe. Will you look at me while I tell you?"

Reluctantly Emily turned to face her.

"I admit I got carried away when I realized the full extent of his plan. You thought I admired it and I guess in a sense I did. I admired the sheer diabolicalness of the plan. But one can have a malevolent idea, find it morally repugnant and never dream anyone would ever dare put it into practice. If I had heard about this scam being done on anyone even if I didn't know them, I would have interfered. Because while the idea of the plan is beautiful in its twisted way to put it into action is wrong and just plain sick."

Unsure if she should go on Rory eventually decided that she had to finish things. "I know that this may be hard for you to understand Emily but I'm from a different world then you are. And that world has a totally different culture and set of rules that people live by. In fact I'm from the same place that produces guys like Zander and gives them these types of abhorrent plans. That's why I can conceive and appreciate such ideas even while being disgusted by them."

Rory waited a long time for Emily to speak but no response was forthcoming. Sighing she turned her focus back to the water and decided it was probably best if she left. "I just wanted you to know. I better go," she turned to leave.

"You think I'm stupid."

The words were so soft and unexpected for a moment Rory wasn't sure she'd heard what she thought she heard. "What?"

"Who am I kidding," Emily sighed bitterly. "I was stupid."

"No you weren't."

"Yes I was." Emily finally looked at her. "Don't you see even when the doctor explained what was wrong with me I couldn't put it together. I couldn't comprehend what it all meant. I didn't imagine anyone could think of anything like that, until we were driving back and you outlined what Zander had intended to do to me. What I failed to grasp you pointed out to me easily, leading me along like I was a child."

"And with all the tact of an elephant in a roller rink." Rory muttered.

"No. Don't you see you have nothing to apologize for? I'm the one that was an idiot. I told you I'm stupid." Defeated Emily walked over to the bench and sank on it.

"No your not." Rory retorted angrily.

"Yes I am. I couldn't see what he was doing. I couldn't see the truth about Zander. You certainly didn't have that problem. You met him once and had his number."

"Do you honestly think you're the only woman in the world that's been screwed over by a guy?" Rory demanded.

"I think this goes a little beyond screwing over," Emily showed life by snapping back. "I know what it means to be screwed over, I had a boyfriend before Zander who had a knack for making out with other girls while he was dating me."

"That is just another variation of the ass species." Rory sat next to Emily. "Zander no doubt falls in that species as well. But there's another species he falls into the emasculated rat bastard grouping."

Emily recognized the attempt at humor but couldn't respond to it.

Turning serious Rory shifted to meet Emily's eye. "It's not that you couldn't see who Zander was. You didn't want to see the truth. You cared about him and the part you cared about was all you wanted to see. On top of that you had all of these people telling you how wrong Zander was for you and if you looked too closely at him you might find out they were right. You once told me that one thing holding you back from breaking up with him was fear of being told I told you so by everyone you knew."

"And that's just more proof that I'm an idiot. Staying with him because I don't want to look like a fool isn't exactly a bright move."

"Your not the first person in the world to make that mistake Emily."

Shaking off her encouraging words Emily got to her feet. "You know the truth about me, you know everything. You above everyone know how foolish and stupid I was. How can you stand to be around me?"

"Because you did nothing wrong." Rory got to her feet as well.

"Don't you see if you hadn't been with me I probably still would be in the dark about the full extent of his plan?" Emily asked.

"And that's supposed to be a bad thing?" Fed up Rory lost her patience. It was time for some harsh life lessons.

Startled by the vehemence Emily turned to look and was caught off guard by the cool expression on Rory's face. It was a look she had never seen before. And for the first time ever looking at her she didn't even get a whisper of Elizabeth in her mind.

"For some reason you seem convinced that because you trusted someone you cared about not to hurt you intentionally, and then once you found out he did you still wanted to believe there was some decency left inside of him. For some strange reason you believe that looking for the good in people, especially in people you care about is foolish."

"You would never be in this position."

"This isn't about me or how I think. God do you have any idea how lucky you are?" Rory demanded. "Do you have any idea what its like to walk into a room and constantly be sizing the room and its occupants up, checking for cops, sizing up potential marks, doing a mental price check on items you can fence in the room? Bare in mind that you need to do this within a few seconds of walking into any new place, within a minute of meeting any new person you need to be aware of what type of scam would work on that person if any, and you damn well better be able to smell if their a cop or not. And don't even get me started about checking for additional exits in every room or building you enter in case you have to make a quick getaway."

Emily's mind reeled at the description Rory was painting for her. Somehow she knew what Rory was describing was the life she lived, perhaps still lived. She had considered Rory a person who loved to laugh and joke all the time, someone who was perfect for her too serious brother. When in fact it looked like she spent quite a lot of time looking over her shoulder and on guard.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about and that's a good thing." Unaware of Emily's thoughts Rory continued on. "You don't want to be like me Emily. You have it made, if anything I want to be like you. You believe in the good in people and with a few exceptions here and there I bet that's what you get. That's a rare thing, hold onto it, don't curse it. Believe me you don't want things to change, because if they do you might change and trust me you won't like that." Surprised and a bit mortified that she went off on a tangent like that it was Rory's time to fall quiet and study the water as the sky grew darker and darker.

"I thought," Emily hesitated then decided to let her petty worries out. "I thought you were embarrassed that I wasn't able to make the connection as quickly as you were."

"Jesus do you have that wrong." Rory laughed. "And here I figured I horrified you so much you were probably going to go to Jason and ask him to please dump the crazy psycho."

"Psycho?" This time Emily didn't fight the amusement. "Your not a psycho. He had a psycho in his life before and your nothing like Carly."

Rory couldn't help but laugh at the characterization of Carly, which Emily joined. In that moment Rory felt that the tentative bonds of friendship were still in place if not even stronger and for that she was relieved.

"So are we okay?" Emily asked when the much-needed laughter passed.

"I hope so. How are things going with you? Have you seen Zander yet?"

"No." Emily paused when a new thought occurred to her. "Have you seen Jason?"

"Not since he left with you this morning." Rory's mood was light with relief and that changed the instant she saw Emily's expression.

"You need to find him." Emily urged. "Now."

"Why? Did something happen? Did you tell him about Zander?" Rory immediately began to worry about damage control with the law if she had.

"No its about…." Emily stopped. It wasn't her place to tell. "He needs you now Rory. Go to him."

Nodding Rory gestured at Francis and some of her anxiety must have shown on her face because he hurried in their direction.

"We'll talk later." Emily understood the rush.

Rory's thanks were tossed over her shoulder, her mind already focused on Jason. She couldn't help but remember how tortured he had looked that morning when he'd left the penthouse. Whatever Emily talked to him about wasn't good and if Emily was still concerned she couldn't help but be worried. "I need to get home." She told Francis and hurried for his waiting truck.

**Port Charles Hotel**

When one walked through the doors of the Port Charles Hotel their eyes were treated to the sight of one of the most luxurious hotels anywhere on the east coast. Despite its decidedly low brow name the hotel itself boasted an elegance that drew the rich to it. Most especially the hotel catered to the rich that had been so for centuries and could trace their ancestry back to the Mayflower. The newly minted rich were tolerated of course, after all money was money. But on the whole if the person's ancestry couldn't be traced back at least to three generations of blue blood they were considered rather déclassé.

There was a time in the early 90's when the hotel had begun to cater to the young wealthy of the world. Going so far as to stage rock bands in one of the bars on weekends. But that didn't go over well with the denizens that had been coming to the hotel for years and their disapproval was felt in their absence.

That all changed once the elder Quartermaine wrested control of the hotel back from his grandsons and the interloper Julia Barrett. The hotel soon returned to the traditions that had been carved over 100's of years and order was restored. The controlling elite once again had a place to take tea and look down their collective noses at the rest of society.

Located inside the hotel was the P.C. Grille, one of the most expensive and best restaurants in town. The waiting list for lunch even on the habitually slow Monday was still pages long. There was never an empty table, it simply wouldn't be tolerated, and rarely was there a bill less then three figures. And that was exactly the way Edward Quartermaine liked it.

Another thing he liked was peering into the adjacent bar and being unable to see the bar due to all the people surrounding it. To him every clink of ice hitting a glass was the same as money in the bank. And money, next to Lila, was his holy grail. Some might argue that money meant more to him then anything else, but that would be untrue. Lila and their broad, if underachieving family did come in ahead of money. Although he had to admit sometimes money ran neck and neck with the extended family, though never so with Lila.

His children either legitimate or illegitimate had been a constant source of frustration and disappointment to him. They would show these flashes of absolute ruthlessness and then follow it up with such stupidity he was forced to question their lineage. There had been many times in the past several years that he wished he had made his presence known in Bradley Ward's life before he died. Now there was a son a man could be proud of. But no matter how much his children vexed him, Tracy most especially he still had vivid memories of her refusing to give him his nitroglycerin during his "heart attack", he did care for them, and in Alan's case he even loved.

Sadly the next generation was turning out the same way. AJ was unreliable with his as of yet uncontrollable drinking. You could never be certain if the man you were getting would be the one time city councilman or the town drunk. Dillon was still in high school and having been raised primarily by Tracy one had to wonder how the boy would turn out. Besides if he invited Dillon to town Tracy would no doubt take that as an invitation to come to town as well. Whenever Tracy was in Port Charles trouble and treachery soon followed.

Justus had isolated himself in Philadelphia and thus far resisted every overture made in his direction. Besides the promise Justus once showed had been tarnished somewhat because of the fact he never seemed to overcome his grandmother's death and killing Damian Smith. Edward could understand missing Mary Mae, he still missed her and played her music often just to reminisce. As for his continued confliction over beating Damian to death with a baseball bat, he believed it was past time that Justus buried that concern and got over it. It wasn't like Damian was a saint or anything.

Ned, once his shining beacon of hope, the person he had so carefully groomed to be his successor, had become a disappointment. The one person in his family that was the most like him had been the one that let him down the most. At times Ned fancied himself a rock star, as such he couldn't be trusted to stick to the company full time. Emily, delightful as she was, showed no interest in business and besides she lacked the killer instinct that was needed to make a business thrive. Besides at times her choices could be dubious, at least her choices in boyfriends.

As for Jason, Edward gave a soft sigh. The boy wasn't stupid as he once feared he was after the accident. Jason also possessed the ruthlessness that was necessary in a Fortune 500 company. If he could ever get the boy out from under the sway of that infernal criminal Sonny Corinthos he would be a perfect fit at Quartermaine Enterprises.

Until that happened Edward was forced to focus on the youngest generation of Quartermaine successors. Since Ned had tucked Brook Lynn upstate with Lois as a 10 fingered guard dog that only left him with one focus. Of course Michael would have been his primary focus anyway. After all a great grandson was of critical importance in the grand scheme of things. Eventually he planned on returning Michael's rightful name of Quartermaine to him and that would insure the continuation of the Quartermaine family name.

To start the ball rolling in his plan to reclaim Michael Edward spied his unsuspecting quarry sitting at a table and moved in for the kill. "Carly. You look lovely as always." Giving her his most charming smile he bent down and kissed the cheek she offered then took the seat across from her.

Amused Carly leaned back and twirled a pen in between her fingers. "Edward you're in a good mood. What happened? Take over some unsuspecting company?"

Edward chuckled. "That's on tomorrow's agenda."

"Then what do I owe this visit to?" Carly's suspicions of the old man were well earned. He might have snowed her in the beginning because of her strong desire to be both accepted and respected. It hadn't taken long or very many warnings by Jason for her to realize the truth of the old man's caginess. Edward might still charm her on some level but she had learned to be very wary as well.

"Do I need a reason to visit with my favorite ex-daughter in law?"

If Carly hadn't been wary before that remark definitely would have put her guard up. Watching him carefully she reached for her water glass and took a sip. "Now I'm your favorite? Funny I seem to remember a time when you threatened me with Ferncliff among other things."

Waving her words off the way one would shoo a fly Edward again used his charm. "That was years ago Carly. The circumstances of the time brought out the worst in us all. I'm sure you're not the type to hold a grudge."

Carly leaned forward. "Actually I've been known to hold a grudge for twenty years."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you." His eyes twinkled in merriment but there was truth in his words. "We're very much alike."

"If were so much alike you can probably smell a snow job as quickly as I can."

"My dear," he patted her hand. "One day you'll realize I'm not the grand enemy you make me out to be. In fact I can be quite a good friend to those I care for."

Carly continued to eye him suspiciously but as of yet she hadn't been able to discern his motive in approaching after all this time.

Catching the speculation in her eyes he decided it was time to leave. He had made initial contact and that was enough for today. It would take a lot of time and a lot of careful planning to get past her guard. "I'll leave you to your work." He got to his feet. "Lila will be wondering where I am."

Carly's countenance softened at the mention of the great lady. "Tell her hello from me."

"I will."

"Mama." A little redheaded missile darted his way through the tables with the recklessness that kids seemed to possess leaving a string of near accidents in his wake.

"Mr. Man." Carly automatically picked the little boy up and settled him on her lap.

"Guess what? I saw Daddy Jason today and he gave me a kan – a kang…" Michael stuttered.

"A kangaroo." Carly provided the word automatically even as she looked up at Edward. "Sonny will be here soon."

Edward understood the warning. "It was good to see you again Carly, Michael," he hesitated wanting to touch the little boy but at the last second turned away. He didn't want to show an extreme bit of interest in Michael too soon. If he did Carly would shut him down. He also knew he could only speak to her when she wasn't with that mobster she was married to.

However as he was walking away from the table his focus wasn't on Carly or even his great grandson, it was on his grandson Jason. It seemed the prodigal had returned to town. Edward wondered if it was time to start opening discussions with the boy again.

**Lakeview**

The elevator seemed to be traveling slower than usual. Then again everything seemed to be moving slowly. Since leaving the docks time seemed to have crawled, every single red light in the world seemed to be in front of them, not to mention idiot Sunday drivers out cruising on a Wednesday night. The bastards.

"The Durango and the bike were downstairs, he's probably upstairs." Francis offered reassurance in the guise of an offhand comment. He wasn't sure what had occurred during her discussion with Emily but whatever it was sure lit a fire under his charge.

"I know," Rory smiled briefly as the doors finally opened. "If Jason is home you can go. I'll be with him the rest of the night."

"Okay." Francis was used to this from her. Unlike some of the guard detail he'd pulled in the past Rory was always aware of him waiting outside for her. She never had him hang around unnecessarily. It was a trait others could learn. But then again most of the people he'd guarded in his career hadn't placed limitations on his detail.

Grabbing the door handle she was relieved when it turned easily, opening it her eyes searched the dark room until she spotted his silhouette framed in the window. Turning she nodded at Francis who headed for the elevator. Walking inside she locked the door behind her. Dropping her coat on the floor she set her bag on the desk and crossed the room towards him. She didn't need light to read the tension in his frame, it became more and more evident with every step she took towards him. Jason was hurting and he was hurting bad.

Saying nothing Rory wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face against his back and held on. There was no response from Jason. His hand didn't come to rest on hers, he didn't sigh in relief, but he didn't pull away either. Gradually Rory began squirming, being careful not to let go of him she maneuvered until she was holding him, her head on his chest, her hands locked loosely around his back. Her move forced him to uncross his arms so she could rest her head on his chest. It took several more minutes but eventually his arms came around her and he rested his chin on her head. When she heard him sigh she took her first easy breath in what seemed like hours. Rory was content to hold him for as long as he needed her. It was her turn to be here for him.

Jason was a little surprised at the way she had wormed her way into his arms, but then realized he shouldn't be. It was the same way she had wormed her way into his heart. In the hours since leaving the hospital he'd indulged in the unusual pastime of reflection. It was true what he'd told Monica. He'd never intended to care about her. And in the beginning it had been easy not to. But like Rory she had found a way inside his heart and he had grown to care for her. The idea she might get sick wasn't one he was prepared for. The thought she could die wasn't one he had even contemplated. Thought death may be something he was more aware of then most people it didn't seem right in her case.

Tightening his hold on Rory he buried his face in her neck, his hand fisting in her hair as he pulled her closer and drew in her scent. And because she was quiet, because she was just content to hold him and not press for answers, but most importantly because she was there he pulled back so he could see her eyes and told her.

**Parking Garage**

Rubbing at the ball of tension that had suddenly formed at the base of his neck Francis started his truck but didn't put it in gear. His mind remained on the couple in the penthouse above. He hoped Rory and Jason weren't fighting again. He'd only been around them as a couple for about a week now but he knew that anytime in which they were fighting wasn't going to be pleasant for anyone, especially him.

Putting the car in gear he realized he didn't have much say in the matter. If they were fighting he'd have to deal with it. He'd learned early on that he needed to be on his toes when it came to Rory. It seemed that she was determined to get to him in some way or the other and he never knew which angle she was going to take at any given time.

Applying for a job at the morgue was a classic illustration of that. Now that he could let his amusement show the smile that graced his features made him look years younger. He almost wished she had taken the position at the morgue. He would have loved to have seen Sonny's face when he found out the news, not to mention Johnny's. Johnny had a little known phobia of morgues. Rory working there, being there every day would have given him ammunition to use on Johnny for months. Francis was still laughing at the thought when he pulled through the electric gate of the underground parking garage and headed for his apartment.

Behind him the Lakeview Towers gleamed proudly in the night for another minute then abruptly went dark. Every light in the majestic tower went out in the same instant. In fact every light, in every building on that side of the street went out at the same time, while the buildings across the street continued to burn brightly into the night.

**Transformer**

Moving quickly to his car Marin checked his watch, according to his calculations he should have a 27-minute window before power could be rerouted and restored to the Lakeview. That should give him enough time to get to the towers and do the necessary reconnaissance work. Once the recon was complete he would be ready to put his plan into action.


	36. I think I'm going to be sick

**Remarks:** I wanted to say thanks for those of you who remembered this story and were willing to read it after such a long layoff. I really wanted to thank _Evil But Friendly Rival_ for her amazingly flattering words (and no I didn't pay her, but I would've if I would have thought of it). Along with everyone else who took the time to R&R.

Steph

**What If…**

Chapter 35

**Penthouse**

Breakfast had never been a meal that Jason had gone out of his way to eat. He would eat something if it was put in front of him, but if nothing was there he didn't miss it. Since meeting Rory however, he'd begun eating breakfast almost every day, whether he wanted to or not. Of course at times she called breakfast, brunch but it was the same meal to him. Rory may be petite but she loved her food. She was a firm believe in three meals a day plus several snacks. The only problem with the breakfast scenario was that Rory didn't know how to cook. But there were times she didn't let that little fact stop her. Apparently this morning was one of those times.

"How the hell can someone get bread stuck in a toaster?" Rory griped to the food gods. Unaware she was being watched she continued in her goal of making breakfast. On the third try she managed to find the drawer that held the silverware and unearthed a fork and headed for the now smoking toaster. She needed to get the bread out of there before the smoke alarm upstairs went off. She'd already destroyed the one downstairs and didn't feel like racing upstairs to destroy the other one.

At the last second she remembered to unplug the toaster before sticking the metal fork inside it to pry the wedge of toast free. "Come on you sonofabitch." The last part of the word ended on a yelp as the toast popped free, cleared the toaster and landed with a thud on the counter. Surprised Rory stared at it for a minute then shrugged. "That'll work."

The noise of an angry sounding hiss reached her ears and that probably meant trouble, cautiously Rory turned around to identify where it was coming from. The last time she'd heard a sound like that was right before a coffee cup had shattered. This time it was the coffee pot. Pitch-black liquid like sludge was spilling over the side of the pot onto the burner causing it to sizzle.

"Jesus." Irritated Rory muttered under her breath, mutters quickly turned into curses when some of the coffee splashed on her hand when she switched the overflowing pot for a coffee cup. "I'm never doing this again."

"That might be a good idea considering we don't have renter's insurance." Amused Jason made his presence known and came close to laughing when she spun around and he saw dark streaks on her face.

"You're awake." Rory stated the obvious as an accusation.

"So are you and its not even 9:00." Crossing his arms he leaned against the doorjamb and eyed her suspiciously. "Your wide awake when you don't have to be, your in a kitchen trying to cook when you can't, and your making oil spill coffee when you hate the smell of it. What are you up to?"

Bristling Rory turned away to replace one coffee cup with another as the black sludge continued to drip from the filter. Maybe she had used too much water to fill this thing.

"No answer. Now I know your up to something." Jason's words came from directly behind her, his hands came to rest on the counter caging her in. "So what prompted the toxic spill?"

Irritation, which for the better part of a half an hour had been directed at inanimate objects during her futile breakfast making effort, now turned on him. "Obviously I was attempting to make breakfast for you, though why I bother for a stupid jerk is beyond me." Shoving hard at one of his arms she moved past him towards a small table in the corner of the room.

Turning Jason belatedly noticed the table that had been carefully if uniquely set for two. The plates were mismatched as were the glasses, but it was obvious that special effort had been made. There was a pale yellow flower drowning in a tall water glass in the center of the table. Also on the table was a platter of some of the blackest items he'd ever seen, in fact he had trouble recognizing what they were supposed to be. It was only the charred pan in the sink that still smelled that made him realize it was bacon. On the plate itself were the runniest eggs he'd ever seen in his life. They were more yellow then white and definitely not fluffy. His gaze shifted to his girlfriend who was sitting stiffly at the table and muttering under her breath. It didn't take him long to realize he was in trouble.

**Penthouse**

Across the hall storm clouds of a different sort were forming although one half of the occupants was blissfully unaware of the oncoming trouble.

"Are you sure?" Conscious of Carly being upstairs Sonny kept his voice low as he spoke into the phone. Pausing to listen he absently began drumming his fingers on the desk. "Things are moving quicker then I expected them to. We might have to step up our plan." Glancing at his watch he knew it was time to wind things up.

"Keep me informed. If things keep progressing like this you'll need to prepare for visitors by the end of the week." Sighing Sonny hung up the phone and moved over to the fashionably laid out table. As usual the sights and smells coming from the table were both pleasing to the eye and the pallet. Filling his plate with some of the food his mind turned over the information the phone call had revealed. He'd expected movement in Puerto Rico once Jason made his presence known in Port Charles, but he was surprised it was so soon. Hearing Carly descend the stairs he pushed the problem of Puerto Rico to the back of his mind in order to share a nice breakfast with his wife. Rising he pulled out her chair and kissed her cheek. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." Carly smiled, settled in her seat and began filling her plate with the delectable dishes he prepared every morning. Biding her time she waited for him to take a bite of his Eggs Florentine before striking. "If you think I'm going to let you send Jason to Puerto Rico after he just got home you've got another thing coming."

Surprised Sonny swallowed the food whole and the move set off a coughing fit that brought tears to his eyes. Through the tears he could see his wife was well prepared and waiting to continue the discussion.

**Penthouse**

"You did all of this for me?" Jason took the empty chair. "You didn't have to."

"Obviously."

Hearing the bite in her voice he knew he had indeed made her mad. "I'm sorry. You caught me by surprise. You don't cook very often, so I didn't know what to think."

"And naturally you decided I was up to something because there was no way in hell I would ever just do something for you without an ulterior motive is there?" Disappointed for some reason Rory crossed her arms over her chest and refused to look at him.

"No." At that remark Jason realized that besides making her angry he'd also hurt her and he didn't like that. "I was just surprised."

Hearing the tone of his voice Rory relented slightly and glanced in his direction. Maybe she was being a little unreasonable. After all it wasn't his fault she'd been burned by coffee, splattered with bacon grease, not to mention fallen off the chair when she'd beat the hell out of the smoke alarm when it went off. "I just … I know last night was hard for you, and I just wanted to do something." When Jason eyed the charred bacon she shot to her feet. "Forget it." She'd barely taken a step when he caught her and pulled her on his lap. "Let me go. I don't want to talk to you." She tried to squirm free.

"Then listen." Jason fought to hold her in place. "What you did last night for me was just what I needed, you listened to me, you held me."

Irritation forgotten Rory stopped struggling. "Yesterday was a hard day for you emotionally, I wanted to be there for you."

"You were and I needed that, I needed you." Now that she'd stopped struggling he shifted his hold until it was more like an embrace. "Is that what all this was about? Taking care of me?"

Mortified Rory shrugged and looked away until he caught her chin and made her meet his eyes. "You always do so much for me and it doesn't seem like I do anything for you. I'm the one that has all these neuroses that you have to talk me down from, I just wanted to show you I could be the one there for you when you needed it. This disgusting mess was just another way of showing how much I care for you."

"You do more then you think." He leaned forward until their foreheads touched. "You don't have to cook for me to show me. In fact I wish you wouldn't."

Amused Rory laughed and Jason grinned. He did seem better then last night. And as much as she wanted to believe talking to her had been the magical cure she had a feeling that a large part of his relief came from Monica's call informing him of her plans to have a biopsy today. "Because of that remark I'm going to make you eat this." Rory warned him and while he digested those words she scrambled from his lap and moved into the kitchen proper.

"The table is set for two aren't you joining me?"

"Eat that road kill?" Rory shuddered and pulled out a box of Krispy Kremes from the cupboard. "I made this for you Jason. Here's my breakfast." Taking a seat she looked meaningfully at his plate, which now held a rapidly congealing egg. "Enjoy."

**Penthouse**

"Carly," Sonny gasped when the coughing fit passed then paused to take a sip of his juice to soothe his throat before going on. "Back off. This is business it has nothing to do with you." With that pronouncement he fully expected the conversation to end in one of two ways. Either with her trademark stomp upstairs and slamming of the bedroom door, or her to sit at the table with a sullen look on her face until he left.

"You're wrong Sonny this does concern me." Carly replied calmly and could tell her response caught him off guard, which was exactly where she wanted him. Noticing that and realizing she needed every edge she could get she decided to keep this calmness angle going for as long as she could.

"Let it go," he warned her.

"Not until I've had my say." Again her tone was calm and again the surprise was evident on his face. This thing was definitely working. Perhaps she should try it more often. "I know you called Jason here because of some problem you have, most likely in Puerto Rico," she held up a hand to stop his outburst. "I'm not asking what problem I'm just saying what I think."

Unnerved by his excitable wife's demeanor Sonny withdrew to study her. This was a side of Carly he hadn't seen before and he wasn't sure how to handle it.

"Now your ready to send him to Puerto Rico to take care of the problem and you shouldn't do that," she continued.

"You don't have a say in my business," he reminded her coldly and headed for the desk.

"Does Jason?" Carly kept after him, both physically and emotionally. "Don't ask him to leave. Not now, not after what he's just gone through. Don't make him choose, it's not fair to him."

Surprised and uncomfortable Sonny lashed out. "What do you mean? Are you talking about Rory? The police haven't even declared if the car wreck was an accident or not."

Insulted Carly forgot her plan and snapped a retort. "Don't treat me like an idiot Sonny. I have ears I know what's going on. The police know as well as you that someone tried to kill Rory last week so don't even try to deny it."

Ignoring her comment he began shoving papers into his briefcase. Whoever was talking around her needed to be shut up and soon. The last thing he needed was for her to start worrying. When Carly began worrying she began planning and that was never a good thing.

"How can you be so cruel? He's your best friend and you want him to leave Rory for what could be days when someone is trying to kill her?" Carly yanked the papers from his hand to make him look at her. "We both know that if he decided to go he'd be thinking about her, and I'm no expert but I imagine his focus would need to be on his job not split between his job and worrying about Rory back here. And because it's _business_," she sneered the word. "He can't bring her with him."

Unnerved by her knowing and accurate assessment of the situation, an assessment he had yet to make Sonny pulled the papers from her hand, shoved them in the case and readied himself to leave.

"Don't do it to him." Carly pleaded for her best friend. She had decided to play the Rory angle because she knew if she'd used herself or Michael he'd shut her down immediately, but the more she spoke the more she believed what she was saying. She had made a promise to start looking out for Jason to try to make up in some small way for all the pain she'd caused him and she meant to keep her promise.

Uncomfortable with the feelings she was arousing in him Sonny lashed out again. "How do you know all this? Have you been eavesdropping again? Or going though my desk?"

Stung Carly drew back then wearily shook her head. "I thought we were getting past this. For some reason I thought last week you'd taken a step and realized that you _can_ trust me. I see now I was mistaken. " She was angry with him but more then that she was hurt and that was why her tone was more tired then accusatory.

"I know these things because I'm smarter then you give me credit for. I know how to keep my ears open and read between the lines, I even know when to keep my mouth shut." Seeing the doubt in his expression caused her even more pain and she headed for the stairs. "Did it ever occur to you that if you took a chance and confided in me more often. If you trusted me enough to confide in me just a little bit I might not have this overwhelming need to know absolutely everything in order to feel secure?" When he stood there looking at her, a surprised expression on his face she sighed and headed upstairs.

**Penthouse**

Being careful not to spill the coffee in his cup that could at best be described as sludge Jason settled carefully on the off white sofa. Sitting next to him Rory munched happily on the last of her doughnut. He was tempted to set the sludge on the coffee table, but didn't. Rory had stopped him from eating the breakfast at the last possible second but he thought it was in his best interest to at least try the coffee she'd made him.

"Are you okay about everything?"

Drawn from his study of the coffee Jason looked over at her and smiled. "You have sugar," he gestured then rubbed the white powdery substance from the corner of her mouth and licked it from his finger.

"Enjoy it that's about the only part of me that's sweet." Rory's smile was mocking.

"Yesterday was strange. When Emily told me that Monica might be sick it hit me hard, much harder then I expected. I meant what I told Monica I never wanted to care about her, much less love her, in fact I wasn't aware I did until yesterday."

"That's understandable sometimes our real feelings only show in periods of intense emotion." Rory pointed out.

"Its just I always considered myself closer to Bobbie then Monica."

"You probably are and always will be," she shifted until she was sitting cross-legged beside him. "Bobbie will always be easier for you to be around then Monica because as much as she may care about you she doesn't need you the way Monica does."

"That's true, Monica always presses for more." Sighing heavily he barely resisted the urge to groan. "She's probably going to push even harder after yesterday."

Sensing his unease Rory smiled softly and brought a hand to his face. "Your probably right. And because Monica always pushed you while Bobbie didn't it was easier for you to talk to her. And it makes sense because although Bobbie may have watched you grow up and even changed your diapers at one point she didn't raise you, Monica did."

In light of Rory's statement his memories of the times in the hospital and at Jakes when he had engaged in half-hearted flirtations with the redhead took on a whole new meaning to him.

"Are you okay?" Concerned Rory took the coffee cup away from him and put it on the table. "You got this really weird expression on your face. I don't think you should drink this, you might get sick."

Jason was smart enough not to correct her mistaken reason for his unease. "I'm fine."

Rory eyed him suspiciously for another minute before deciding he was probably telling the truth. She also knew he was ready for a change of subject. "You want to hear my news?"

"What news is that?" As excited as she suddenly was he was surprised she'd kept it to herself as long as she had.

"I found a job." Rory announced proudly. "I'm going to be working at the Oasis."

Jason didn't even blink he merely waited.

"Would you have believed the morgue?" Rory asked after a minute of waiting for a reaction.

"Yes."

"Good because I almost took that job." She decided not to sulk at his less then pleasing reaction. "Instead I'm going to be working with Alexis. She needed some temporary help and I fit the bill."

The choice caught him by surprise. "You normally don't like desk jobs."

"I know but I figured this would give me an opportunity to bone up on the law. With Uncle Gabe sooner or later I'm going to need to get him out of another scrape, it's only a matter of time." When he grimaced she smothered a laugh. Gabe and Jason had a unique relationship that was a constant source of amusement for her. Before she could tease someone knocked on the door.

"That's probably Sonny." Jason remarked after a quick look at his watch.

"In that case." Rory quickly climbed on his lap and kissed him hard, his arms were coming around her when she broke the kiss and headed for the door. "Come on in."

Forcing a smile Sonny did as she requested. Instantly the smile faded and his nose wrinkled in disgust. "What is that smell?"

Putting a hand on her hip Rory glared at him. "I cooked. You want to make something of it?"

Having just left one volatile woman Sonny was in no mood to cross swords with another one and held up his hand in surrender. "I just wondered."

Deciding to ignore the obvious lie Rory turned to Jason. "I'll see you later."

"Where are you going?" Jason got quickly to his feet. "Francis isn't here yet."

"Relax I thought I'd just go annoy the blonde across the hall." Rory replied and before either man could react she headed for the door pausing only to pick up a small bag from the desk chair.

"Don't even bother." Jason shook his head at Sonny. Grabbing his jacket he stepped outside just in time to hear her knock on the other door.

"Open up Blondie."

Carly yanked the door open. "It's about damn time you got here." Catching sight of Jason and her husband she flushed then slammed the door after Rory stepped inside.

"Do I want to know what their up to?" Sonny wondered aloud.

"Probably not." Jason stepped past him and onto the elevator Johnny had waiting.

Sonny looked at the closed door for a minute longer before getting on. The doors closed and the elevator began its slow descent. They made it three floors before Sonny turned on Jason in obvious disgust. "Don't you ever get curious?"

**Penthouse**

"It's about time you got here." Carly led the way into the kitchen heading for the hall leading to the back rooms. "I've been waiting forever."

"You need to get a hobby then," Rory trailed at a leisurely pace.

"Did you get everything you need?" Carly demanded.

"Yes." Spying bacon that looked like bacon she quickly nabbed it.

"Then lets get this over with." Carly headed down the hall and soon realized Rory hadn't followed her. Huffing out an irritated breath she stepped back into the kitchen. "Is there a problem?"

"Carly what crawled up your ass and died?"

"What?"

"You've been snapping at me since I got here," Rory commented between bites of cold bacon. "I'm used to your sniping but this is different. I'm taking the heat for someone else and I don't like it. What happened? Did you and the dimpled don have a fight?"

"Stop avoiding the subject either you can open the door or you can't. If you can't let me know I'll stop wasting my time with you and find someone who can." Turning away Carly stalked down the hall.

In the instant before she turned Carly's eyes had given Rory the answers she sought. Carly and Sonny did have a fight and judging from Carly's attitude it had been a bad one. Understanding Carly's current tactic of avoidance she decided to play along with it. "Of course I can open it." Rory bragged and headed for where the secret panel was and quickly popped it free before opening her bag to take out the tools she needed. "Were you able to accomplish your one and only task Blondie?"

The insulting tone got through the leftover hurt from her fight with Sonny. "Before Sonny bought this place in about 1993 the penthouse was owned by Sean Donley who lived here with his wife Tiffany Hill. Tiffany owned the local TV station so I doubt the room is hers."

"And Donley?" Rory's primary focus was on what she was doing but she couldn't help being curious at who had the room built.

"He used to be the Police commissioner." Carly announced with a hint of distaste.

"Figures," Rory jeered. "Got it." She crowed then sat back on her haunches to watch as a piece of the wall seemingly vanished inside of the wall at large. "After you." She offered while she packed up her tools.

Carly didn't need the offer repeated. Entering the room was like stepping into a cheesy old sci-fi television show. There was a huge curved desk that took up most of the lower wall space on three of the walls. Above that there was a ring of 6 TV monitors that surrounded a huge old-fashioned computer monitor. The wall without the desk held another piece of ancient electrical equipment that included a huge tape reel for recording and several buttons that lit up, as well as an old gray filing cabinet.

Rory gasped then spoke in a whisper. "I think that's a Commodore computer. I've never seen one of those outside of an antique store." Amazed at her find she moved closer and crouched to take a look at the computer base. "Oh my god."

"What?" Carly spun around at the cry expecting to find trouble.

"This computer has slots for those huge floppy disks. You know the ones that were actually floppy that coined the name," Rory explained in awe.

"Jesus I thought you were being attacked." Carly grumbled.

"I didn't think these relics even existed anymore. Man I bet this thing predates Windows." Rory cautiously touched the keyboard half expecting it to dissolve.

Carly's fascination wasn't limited to the relic computer. Studying the TV monitors she tried to figure things out then decided to pick the brain of the person who obviously knew more about this stuff then her. Even though she would never admit that. "Do you think these still work?"

Distracted by the question Rory looked up at the configuration of screens. "Probably."

Frustrated by the less then verbal response Carly barely held onto her temper. It figured. The motor mouth would turn quiet the one time she wanted her to talk. "How do you turn them on then? I don't see a switch anywhere."

Annoyed by the interruption Rory looked up from her position by the computer, annoyance soon faded into interest and she got to her feet and considered the possibilities. "They probably run off the same power feed the computer does. In fact I imagine the computer actually controls them. This is probably a computer monitoring setup. Donley probably had cameras in the elevator, the hall, maybe even the penthouse. Sounds like he didn't trust anyone, including his wife. Hmmm wonder if he was a dirty cop."

"Could the cameras have been long range?"

"Doubtful." Rory turned on the flashlight and crouched to look under the desk where the power unit was. "I don't think this has enough juice in it for anything long range. I could be wrong but I bet it was all localized. Besides he was just a cop what else would he need to see?"

"Could you get the computer and these screens back on?" Carly crouched beside her, sniping forgotten in the face of illicit enterprise.

"Getting the power back on will be the easy part. All it should take is a simple splice and a patch through," Rory got to her feet and leaned against the desk. "The tricky part will be the computer. If this doesn't have Windows on it that means it has an operating system on it that I'm going to have to research. And given this guys paranoia with the cameras, he probably has passwords that I'll have to get past."

"Does that mean you can't?" Carly egged her on by acting condescending.

Even though Rory was aware of what Carly was doing she couldn't help but respond to it. "I can handle my end the question is can you handle your end?"

"What do you mean?"

"While I'm researching this stone-age version of computer life you need to dig into the life of Sean Donley. We need to know this guy backwards and forwards when it comes time to crack his passwords. If the memory on this thing hasn't been wiped he probably used something that will be personal to him."

"I can do that." Carly agreed. "One last thing. This is our secret. No one else, not Jason or Sonny can know about this room and what were doing."

"I can live with that," Rory hid her excitement she'd been hoping the blonde would make that a condition. "In that case you have another assignment. You need to find out when the penthouse gets swept for bugs. My theory is the reason this room was never discovered before now is because there was no power running to it. I can show you how to cut the power when you're not in the room but we still need to know when their coming so were not caught unaware."

Spying was one thing Carly was very good at. "Consider it done."

"Then you got yourself a deal Blondie." Rory held out her hand.

"Just don't let me down shorty." Carly warned her before taking it.

**Penthouse**

Rory was still jazzed by the illicit feeling of breaking and entering when she let herself back into Jason's penthouse. It wasn't the same thing as cracking a safe but she was in such withdrawal when it came to safe cracking every little thrill she could find helped. Running her hands over her tool case she longingly remembered a time when they were used quite frequently. Of course that was before Jason and the stupid bet. Who knew that such a dangerous man could be such a stick in the mud when it came to her breaking into safes.

"Rory?"

Jason's voice drifted down the stairs. Panicked she looked for a place to hide her tool bag. Hearing his tread on the stair she dropped the bag to the floor and kicked it under the couch, then quickly leaped on top of it. "I thought you left." She tried hard for nonchalance.

"I forgot a file." Holding it up Jason paused when he noted her flushed expression. Sonny probably had a right to be concerned. Her and Carly were up to something and knowing them it wasn't going to be good.

Catching the suspicious look on his face Rory decided a distraction was called for. "Do you have to leave right away?"

"I have 20 minutes." Jason watched in guarded amusement as she shifted until she was perched on her knees on the arm of the couch.

"Only 20 minutes?" Reaching out she took hold of his waist pulling him closer, then using his body as leverage pulled herself up until they were eyelevel. "That really sucks. I was going to suggest we sit on the couch and make out until you had to leave. But 20 minutes," pausing she drew a finger over his bottom lip, "you'd just be getting all hot and bothered when you had to leave."

Recognizing the challenge in her eyes and knowing that she expected him to walk away from it he decided to surprise her. Before she could guess his intent he was kissing her. She barely began to respond when he stepped back from the couch taking her with him. Automatically her legs wrapped around his waist for support, as soon as that happened he stepped forward until he felt the arm of the couch then he let gravity take its course. Her eyes opened in surprise when they began to fall back on the couch. Jason was careful to brace his fall with his arm at the last possible second so he wouldn't crush her. The whole maneuver took less then a second but the effect on both of them was long lasting.

Rory let out a gasp of surprise when her back hit the cushions but that was all she had time for before his mouth was on hers again. The distraction was definitely providing some unexpected benefits and soon the reason why she'd started the whole thing faded from her mind completely. Running her hand over his back she pulled his shirt free of his jeans seeking the heat of his skin. Jason's lips left her mouth to rove her face, her jaw, then down the column of her neck. His breath on her skin caused her to shiver, his tongue on her skin caused her to moan, his teeth on her skin caused her to buck. Shifting she brought her hands around to the front of his jeans and unzipped them. Without warning Jason rolled them from the couch to the floor. This time he landed on the bottom, with her on top. The coffee table that was perilously close was quickly shoved away by Jason, before he rolled again so he was on top.

Rory couldn't help but smile at the move. For the first time since taking him by surprise immediately after her accident he wasn't being careful with her during their lovemaking. The playfulness had finally returned and she welcomed both it and him with open arms. Tugging on his jeans she tried to work them down his hips and at the same time keep her lips on his. Recognizing the futility of the action she broke the kiss to tug them down far enough for her needs. Tangling a hand in her hair Jason pulled her head back to kiss her again, nipping at her lip she opened to him but the kiss was all to brief for her liking as he shifted again and moved down her body.

Not bothering to remove her shirt he kissed her breast through her clothes and the effect was extremely erotic. The friction of the clothing mixed with the heat of his breath rubbed against her straining nipple and nearly drove her insane. Their love life had always been overpowering but it hadn't been this extreme or quick for a long time. Jason pulled at her jeans for a time before giving up and plunging a finger inside of her through the silk of her panties, reacting immediately Rory bit his shoulder.

Where once there might have been playfulness now there was nothing but need. She fumbled for his wallet and the condom she knew was there. His mouth never seemed to leave hers, their hands somehow found their way around the barrier of clothes they had neither the time nor inclination to remove. Soon but not quickly enough for her sanity he was inside of her. The intensity that had been building between them was strong, the unexpectedness of the lovemaking, the speed in which it had progressed, the heightened awareness between them, everything was designed to feel rushed, but it didn't. Because at the core of their soul existed the unspoken love.

Taking one of her hands Jason buried the other in her hair and lifted her head until their eyes met. Emotion swam in her eyes when she pulled his head down to hers and kissed him as they went over the edge, as always, together.

Though not a singer, Rory couldn't help singing a little ditty as she descended the stairs in her second outfit of the day. Her little interlude with Jason had been magical. She had to admit she definitely preferred his version of making out to hers, although she doubted she would have been able to handle it at age 16. She was pulling a brush through her hair when a knock sounded on the door. "What happened did you have another 20 minutes to kill?" Rory's smile of welcome died when she opened the door and saw a thin man, with dark curly hair standing there. Shifting her gaze she swallowed hard when she met the eyes of the elderly woman in the wheelchair he was pushing.

**L&B**

The storeroom was cool and dim, the only light came from a single bulb in the center of the room making the rows far away from the center dark, though not pitch black. Because of that a flashlight was a necessary item if anyone wanted to spend more then two minutes inside of the room. Emily didn't care about the darkness or the coolness of the room, she was drawn to the other aspect the room offered her, the quietness. After the last few weeks all she wanted was peace and quiet and that was exactly what she was getting. Since entering the storeroom an hour ago to do inventory she hadn't seen or heard anyone and for that she was relieved.

When Ned had called that morning reminding her of her promise to do inventory her first reaction had been to turn him down. She had agreed to do it back when she could stand to be in the same room as Nikolas. Now there was no way she was going to willing go into Nikolas territory. Ned had refused to take no for an answer, and it was only when he let it slip that Nikolas was going to be out of town at meetings all day that she'd agreed to come in and keep her promise.

It wasn't that she didn't want to see Nikolas. It was just after their tense scene yesterday, she needed some time to rebuild her defenses where he was concerned. If he kept pushing her when she wasn't prepared there was no telling what she might let out. She'd told him the truth yesterday, she was tired of being hurt by him and had no desire of getting her heart stomped on again.

The flashlight in her hand flickered and went out and the unexpected action drew her from her thoughts. Groaning Emily hit the side of it trying to move the batteries around hoping to get the connection to spark again. There was still light in the room but not enough to read the labels where she was sitting and without that inventory was pretty much a bust. Sighing she got to her feet and reached for her clipboard. She came up short when she thought she heard a noise. "Ned is that you?"

When there was no response Emily began to get nervous. Sonny had phoned to tell her that Zander had left town but there was no guarantee he hadn't returned. Holding her breath she listened for the sound she thought she'd heard but it didn't come again. Eventually she convinced herself it must have been her imagination and began moving. She had only taken a step when the noise came again and this time it was closer. Someone was definitely in the storeroom with her and whoever it was didn't want her to know it.

Turning in a circle Emily searched for some avenue of escape but saw nothing. On one level she knew the degree of fear she was feeling was unreasonable but couldn't help it. Hearing another noise she retreated until her back hit the concrete wall and there was no place left for her to go. She had finally identified the noise as footsteps and they sounded close and coming closer. Terrified but dry-eyed she looked around for a weapon besides the plastic flashlight that she already had a death grip on and spotted what could be her salvation. There was a space between the wall and the edge of the rack that held the supplies she had been cataloging. It would be a tight fit but she should be able to squeeze through to the aisle on the other side and once there she could make a run for it. Slowly so she wouldn't make a noise and give herself away she worked her way into the tight space.

The footsteps reverberated in her head and she knew she didn't have much time. She was afraid of what would happen if Zander caught her here alone. Finally making it to the other side she saw a shadow at the head of the aisle grow smaller and knew that he was in the aisle she'd just left. Taking off she hurried down the aisle for the door. About halfway down a hand reached through the rack and caught her arm stilling her in her tracks and causing her to scream in surprise.

**Penthouse**

"You must be Rory. I'm Lila Quartermaine and this is Reginald. I hope you don't mind us dropping by unannounced but we were running errands in town and I wanted to come by. May we come in?" Lila took control of the situation in her normal steamrolling fashion.

"Uh, sure." Shell-shocked Rory stepped back to let them in and noted Reginald's pasty expression, hopefully she wasn't that white. Taking a breath to prepare for battle she shut the door and turned to face the room. Reginald had pulled one of the easy chairs out of the way and parked Lila next to the couch.

"I'll be outside if you need anything."

When Lila nodded Reginald headed for the door, which Rory quickly barred. There was no way in hell she was going to be left alone with the grand dame of Port Charles. "Stay."

"That's okay I'll be fine outside."

"You have to stay." Rory hissed, desperate she seized on an idea from her discussion with Carly, and leaned closer to whisper. "The hall is being swept right now."

"I can avoid a vacuum." Reginald trailed off when he caught her drift. "Oh."

"Have a seat Reginald," Rory pointed to the couch.

"Yes please join us," Lila called she was attuned enough to pick up on Rory's nerves and was willing to do what she needed to calm them.

Giving into the inevitable Reginald turned and headed for the living area and took the easy chair across from Lila.

Glaring at him because the bastard took the chair she wanted to sit in Rory had to count to ten before wiping the glare from her face and headed for the couch. Habit had her sitting on the arm of the couch, almost immediately she shot back up. Somehow she didn't think ladies perched on furniture like cats did. They more then likely sat perfectly posed with their legs crossed at a perfect angle.

"This is an unexpected surprise." Rory awkwardly sat on the couch that was not designed for a short person to sit comfortably on and cross their legs. "Jason's not here right now but I can call him."

"No please don't bother him. Actually I'm here to speak with you," Lila smiled sweetly.

Swallowing hard Rory tried to think what she could have done to warrant such a visit. Her thoughts were soon sidetracked by a horrifying idea. What if part of the condom wrapper was still on the floor? Somehow she thought ladies didn't leave condom wrappers lying around. Hell they probably didn't even know what they were. "Really?" She murmured absently and began scanning the floor for a tell-tell sign of silver.

"Yes." Lila was puzzled by Rory's distraction. "Are you alright?"

"What?" Rory looked up and smiled at the woman. "I'm sorry you said you were here to see me?"

"Yes. I know we were to have lunch last week but your accident altered those plans," puzzled Lila paused when Rory kept looking at the carpet. Her actions intrigued Reginald enough that he too began scanning the floor.

The sound of nothing penetrated Rory's distress and she quickly looked up. This was not going well. What was she supposed to do with unexpected guests besides shove them out the door? "Would you care for something to drink?"

"That would be nice."

Reginald immediately got to his feet. "I'll get it."

"No I'll get it." Rory took off after him but the thin man was quicker then he looked and he reached the door to the kitchen before she did.

"I'll bring something out." Reginald said smugly before disappearing into the kitchen.

"Rat bastard." Rory muttered as her escape plan fell through. Sighing heavily she headed for the couch, a knock came from the door and she practically leaped to answer it. "Carly." Before the blonde had a chance to answer Rory had grabbed her arm and yanked her inside the room.

"What's your problem?" Carly pulled her arm free.

"Carly is that you?" Lila called.

Surprised Carly turned towards Lila then back at Rory who looked a little pale and her eyes narrowed in speculation. Carly moved to take Lila's hand and kissed her weathered cheek then took a seat on the couch. "It's good to see you."

"You to. I've been meaning to call you to schedule a visit with you and Michael."

"Next week," Carly promised. "As long as its just you."

"I made tea." Reginald announced, his step faltered when he spotted his old foe Carly then he continued on. He had produced a silver tea set complete with teacups on a silver-serving tray. He had managed to unearth a milk container, sugar container and even found a platter of cookies.

Rory eyed the man and the tray in amazement. Where in the hell did he find tea? Much less the rest of that stuff? She lived here and she'd never seen any of that junk before. How had there been cookies in the cupboard and she hadn't sniffed them out? Her level of unease continued to rise until she saw the glares that passed between Reginald and Carly. Dislike. Now there was something she could understand and deal with. Feeling slightly better she took a seat next to Carly on the couch.

"Perhaps you can convince Rory and Jason to have lunch with me on Thursday. Edward will be out of the house at a Chamber of Commerce meeting. Can you tell her I'm quite harmless?" Lila realized the value of allies.

"I'm sure that will be no problem." Carly noted Rory's strange tension and even stranger quietness. It seemed Rory was spooked by the idea of spending time with Lila. Carly knew fear when she smelled it and she knew what to do about it … pounce. "You're not afraid of Lila are you?"

Rory shot her a glare, saw Lila looking at her and forced it from her face. "It's just I don't know Jason's schedule."

"Jason would clear his schedule for Lila," Carly kept up the pressure with a wry grin on her face.

"I'm sure it will be fine," she spoke through gritted teeth. "I just can't commit until I check his schedule or even mine, I start my new job tomorrow."

Deciding one more push was necessary Carly leaned closer and spoke in a stage whisper. "If you don't want to go just say so. Don't make all these excuses. Lila will understand you have no desire to get to know her."

Infuriated Rory didn't even try to hide her anger. "I never said I didn't want to get to know her. If she wants us there on Thursday we'll be there on Thursday."

"Perfect, be there around 1:00." Lila knew when it was time to retreat. "Reginald." The prompting wasn't necessary he was already by her side.

"What?" Confused Rory blinked in her direction then realized what Carly had tricked her into agreeing to.

"I'll call you," Carly walked them to the door.

"Thank you dear." Lila whispered. At the door Reginald turned the chair around so she could face a trailing Rory. "It was nice to meet you finally. I hope our next meeting will be longer and we will have the opportunity to get to know each other better. Until then." Lila nodded and then gave some sort of signal to Reginald who turned her again and headed for the elevator.

"I'm so glad Emily warned me about Rory and her resemblance to Elizabeth," Lila murmured when the door closed behind them. "That would have been quite a shock if she hadn't."

"I wish she would have warned me." Reginald complained. He had a feeling he was going to be dreaming of ghosts tonight.

"Poor Reggie," Lila chuckled. "If it makes you feel any better I think we took Rory by as much surprise as she took you."

"That's true," he conceded when the elevator doors closed.

**Penthouse**

"You want to tell me why you were so wigged out about meeting Lila?"

"I'm not wigged out." Rory snapped and when Carly gave her a bullshit look she realized she might have overreacted. "She just caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting her. And if she had arrived a few minutes earlier it would have been really messy."

"Why?" Almost immediately the implication of Rory's statement and look she was receiving hit Carly and she shuddered. "Don't answer that."

Sensing her uncomfortablness Rory smiled slightly, picked up the tea dishes and headed for the kitchen. "You seem to get along pretty good with her. Did she accept you right away?"

"Lila pretty much accepts everyone." Carly nibbled on a stale cookie. "About the only person she couldn't stand, at least according to the gossip, was Katherine Belle. Of course Katherine was a lying manipulative bitch who threatened the family by getting involved with Ned."

Rory considered the description of Katherine carefully. She lied on occasion, had been manipulative in the past and definitely been called a bitch before. Hopefully that didn't lump her in the same class as this Katherine Belle person. Holding her breath to ward off the acrid smell of the breakfast that wasn't Rory entered the kitchen and almost dropped the tray. All signs of her disastrous breakfast attempt had been cleaned up.

"Problems?" Carly moved past an immobile Rory.

"The rat bastard not only found and made tea he cleaned up my mess." Rory griped and slapped the serving set on the counter next to the still drying pans.

"Reginald?" Carly considered the nickname for Lila's lackey and thought it appropriate.

"Yes," she hissed.

"And the big deal is?" Carly asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Rory faced her. "It's…" she trailed off, "because," Carly crossed her arms, a sardonic expression on her face and waited. "Oh shut up."

Thoroughly amused Carly headed back into the living room. The trip to the penthouse had definitely been entertaining and had given her plenty of ammunition to use in the coming days.

"What happened to this Katherine?" Curiosity was the vice that always spelled doom for Rory.

"She's dead." Carly's reply was blunt. She waited until she reached the door before turning around. "Of course her death was a long time coming. First she was poisoned while she was living at the Quartermaine house. The police never figured out who did it but there was a lot of speculation. Later she got tossed off a parapet on Spoon Island, she returned from the dead about 6 months later only to die after a fall from the same parapet about a year after that." Satisfied she had left Rory with plenty of things to chew on she tossed a small screwdriver on the desk. "You left this at my place." With that Carly left.

Lost in thought Rory's moves were more by habit then conscious choice. Settling in the oversized leather chair she absently twirled the screwdriver in her fingers. _Poisoning_ Jason hadn't mentioned that being a trait of his family, of course there was a good chance he didn't know or care. He didn't care so why the hell did she? Groaning Rory pounded her head on the desk.

Grumbling Rory rubbed at her now aching temple. That move did nothing to give her answers it only served to give her the start of a headache. Still trying to figure out the reason why Lila Quartermaine spooked her so much she poked at some envelopes on the desk and was quickly distracted by one that had her name on it. It didn't matter the letter was from General Hospital and was no doubt another bill for something her insurance wouldn't cover it was a distraction when she needed it. And because it was a medical bill it would take hours to decipher what the hell it meant in layman's terms.

Pushing her strange reaction to Lila to the back of her mind she opened the bill and set about figuring it out. She decided to make a quick scan of the entire billing procedure, what she was charged, what the procedure was, why it was performed, how much the insurance paid, and how much she had left to pay off with money she didn't have. All was going well until she got to the bottom of page three.

"This can't be right." Rory read the entry again but the code didn't change, the cost for the procedure didn't change. And the longer she stared at those seemingly innocuous black numbers the angrier she got. Crumpling the bill in her hand she grabbed her coat and walked out the door. Ignoring her promise not to go anywhere without Jason or Francis she pounded on the elevator button until it arrived then took it down to the garage level. She had the keys to the Durango in her hand when the screech of tires behind her caught her attention. Once she turned around and recognized the driver the keys quickly disappeared and she waited until the red truck pulled up beside her.

"I thought we had an agreement." Francis reminded her from the driver's seat of the truck. If he'd been five minutes later she'd have been gone and it would've been his ass. "You don't go anywhere without me or Jason."

Hating the fact she'd gotten caught Rory decided to bluff. "I wasn't leaving I was waiting for you. You were supposed to be here at 2:00, its 2:00 I wanted to get a head start on things." She opened the passenger door and climbed into the truck. "Drive."

"Where to M'Lady?" His voice dripping with sarcasm he waited for the glare he knew was coming.

"Mr. Francis you really don't want to push me right now," Rory gave the only warning she was going to. "We're going to the hospital."

Francis obligingly put the truck into gear and traversed the route out of the garage he'd just come up. Something had definitely happened to set her off and he couldn't help but be relieved that it wasn't him.

"Mr. Francis," Rory began an idea slowly forming. "In your opinion what is the most painful way that a person can die?"

"Fire." His answer was immediate and the memory vivid.

"That could work. Lock him inside a crematorium and turn on the ovens," she nodded. "I could get behind that."

"We locking up anyone in particular?" Francis asked more out of curiosity then concern. He had gotten used to her outlandish plots and schemes, and knew most of them were just talk.

"Freak boy." Rory sneered his newly christened name then leaned back in the seat to plot what else she could to him.

**Warehouse**

The legitimate business of the partners of the Corinthos Morgan warehouse long since concluded Sonny was just finishing bringing Jason up to date on the information that Taggert would sell his soul to hear.

"Things are moving faster in Puerto Rico then planned." Jason commented after a minute.

"Greed." Sonny's answer was simple. "Eventually it makes everyone stupid and cocky." And that was exactly what he'd been counting on. He knew with Jason making his presence known up here they'd get results down there. Soon it would be time to deal with the traitors in his organization. He wanted to send a very clear message this time that even though he may be located in Port Charles he knew what was going on in Puerto Rico and wouldn't tolerate traitors.

Throughout the morning he had replayed his conversation with Carly. He didn't know if he could admit it to her but she had made some valid points. Other conversations had been going through his mind as well. Ever since Jason had returned to town with Rory things had been changing, and in a small way he'd been changing. If Jason hadn't been in town he was positive he wouldn't have asked Carly to accompany him to Manny's funeral. Jason had changed as well, perhaps it was time to see just how much.

"If things keep moving like this a trip to Puerto Rico will be necessary probably by the end of the week, early next week at the latest."

Sighing Jason closed the ledger book and pushed back from the desk he'd been working at. "I know."

Sonny waited but the usual offer to follow up on things wasn't made. Noting that he continued on. "What would you say if I asked you to go and handle the final moves to solidify things after we deal with the traitors? You'd also need to send a message to everyone along the pipeline that I'm aware of everything that goes on in my organization even if I'm in Port Charles, and traitors won't be tolerated."

Instead of answering Jason got to his feet and walked to the small window that boasted a partial view of the water and the docks.

Sonny had intentionally phrased his words as a question instead of an order to see what Jason would do. "I'm asking what you want to do. I'm asking for your input. Are you finally ready to give it to me?"

"I don't want to go." Jason turned from the window to face him. Once the words were out he knew they were the correct ones and he didn't feel the guilt he thought he would in saying no to his best friend. "There's to much going on in Port Charles right now, and even with you and Francis watching Rory." He shook off the explanation he was unused to giving. "I don't want to go. Especially not when it could take anywhere from days to a week to get everything settled down there." He was about to continue when he caught the grin on Sonny's face. "What?"

"Do you realize that's the first time you've refused to do something for me in the course of business because of how it would effect you and someone your involved with?" Sonny asked.

Uncomfortable Jason shifted on his feet. "When you fired me I kept working."

"This is different." Sonny sighed and let the final piece of guilt he'd been carrying around go. The guilt had been there ever since he'd brought Jason into his world, and for a time cost him Robin, and later for wrecking any hope he may have harbored of being a family with Michael and Carly. Finally he was free of that guilt. He now knew without a doubt that Jason had someone in his life that was more important then his job and more importantly he had someone who put Jason first.

Not seeing the point of arguing about things long since resolved Jason let it go. "I'm not going." His tone indicated that it was a statement not a question. "Who else do you trust to do the job?"

"I originally thought Francis," he saw Jason shake his head. "But since Rory doesn't seem to trust anyone but him I figured Johnny could handle things easily enough." Sonny gestured at his closed door. "He doesn't have the contacts Francis does but he's loyal, good, though not as good as you. You agree?"

"He's good, gets the job done. He also won't take it as an insult if after he returns from Puerto Rico he goes back to being your personal guard," Jason took his chair again. "But if he handles everything in Puerto Rico okay you might think about bringing him inside the door for some of your meetings."

Sonny merely nodded. For now it was the Puerto Rico trip for Johnny when things were in position. After the rats down there were taken care of then he'd make decisions about the makeup on this end of the organization. Having gotten what he wanted from Jason it was time to change the subject. "How's Rory's job search going?"

"She found one, starts it tomorrow."

"Where's she working?"

Distracted by the numbers he was crosschecking in the ledger he barely spared Sonny a glance. "The morgue."

It took Sonny a minute to process what he'd heard. "Did you say the morgue?"

"What?" Again Jason's answer was distracted.

"Jason." Sonny snapped getting his friend's attention. "Did you say she got a job at the morgue?"

"Yes." Jason agreed. "But she decided not to take it."

"Thank Christ for small favors."

"She was going to then she got another offer at the last second and decided to take that one instead," Jason explained. "She's going to work for Alexis."

Settling in his chair Sonny considered the idea and the longer he did the more amused he became. "When they're in a room together who do you think will do most of the talking?"

Confused Jason glanced in his direction.

"Your perfect for Rory you hardly speak. But Alexis could give her some serious competition," Sonny finished with a grin.

**General Hospital**

What was it about hospitals that made people act so friendly? So freaking false? People who were probably nothing more the selfish, road rage bastards outside of the place suddenly turned into mindless cheerful grinning idiots once they were patients. Didn't people realize that if you were wearing a gown with a slit down the back that caused a draft any haunted house would be proud of, and were sitting in a chair that was normally being pushed by another person, you shouldn't be happy and waving at people you didn't know? He figured it was something the hospital did to a person when they checked in. But they only did it to the people who they were going to let wander the halls of the place in their ugly robes. They probably doused them with some odorless gas that zapped their mind and turned them into drooling, smiling zombies, Luke concluded as he waved to another one of the people he'd just been describing.

"You still here?"

Turning away from the no teeth, gooey wide mouth grin of the elderly woman in the pea green robe Luke focused on his sister. "We weren't finished."

"We were as far as I was concerned." Bobbie kept her focus on refilling the charts in her hand. If she paid to much attention to Luke she'd never get rid of him or his outlandish conspiracy theories.

"Barbara Jean." Luke would have spanked her like he did when they were kids if the damn counter hadn't been in his way. "You know this girl showing up in this town with her supposedly identical face to Elizabeth can't be coincidence."

"What about the old theory that everyone has a twin?" Bobbie turned to him.

"Ha." Luke scoffed at the idea.

Crossing her arms over her chest she decided it was time to deflate his overblown ego in a way only little sisters could. "I seem to remember a time when Bill Eckert was walking around town with your face, of course he had more hair then you."

Luke sent a withering glare in her direction but any retort he might have made was lost when his attention was drawn to the people who just stepped off the elevator. Or rather he should say the woman who got off the elevator. Until that instant he'd relied on others assessment of the resemblance between this Rory and Elizabeth. Now he knew they were right, it was like looking at a walking, talking and unless he was mistaken furious ghost of Elizabeth.

"Bobbie." Rory called out then belatedly noticed the man in the black coat holding a stocking cap. "Sorry I'll wait."

"No go ahead." Luke noted that there wasn't a flicker of recognition in her eyes when she looked at him and he shifted to the side so she could approach and he could observe.

"If your sure." Rory made a half-hearted attempt to be nice but had already focused on the nurse. "I once worked as a data entry specialist for a billing office for an insurance company did you know that?"

Puzzled Bobbie shook her head.

"It was so boring I only made it about a month before quitting but I still remember some of the codes that were assigned for specific procedures. Those codes were universal and used pretty much by all hospitals and insurance companies." She held out a crumpled set of papers and pointed to one entry in particular. "Like this code here, which is the universal code for a DNA test."

Knowing instantly where this was going and how badly it was going to get Bobbie couldn't help groaning.

"I know I'm not a doctor but I doubt even the most desperate doctor would try to pad a bill by tacking on a DNA test to a car accident victim." Warming to her diatribe Rory sucked in a breath and continued. "Then I remembered something. The last thing I had to do before I could be released a big eyes nurse with these wild corkscrewed brown curls came in to take some blood from me. At the time I let it go, because at the moment I was so desperate to get out of here I would have kissed that idiot doctor who treated me. But now I'm putting the pieces together and it's smelling awfully rank, and it leads back to your twisted nephew."

Bobbie darted a look in Luke's direction but her brother was strangely silent.

"Either Lucky is a vampire and needed lunch or he wanted my blood to perform some sort of clandestine DNA test to prove I'm his long dead girlfriend." Rory finished.

"If you are his girlfriend you wouldn't be the first person in this town to come back from the dead." Luke commented and drew her furious glare in his direction.

"Excuse me?"

"I've returned from the dead once, my wife has done it twice, hell my best friend just recently returned after being dead and buried for more then 20 years," he explained.

Rory nodded slightly at the strange pronouncement. "I'd say you have a weird family."

Luke bristled at that remark. "Even Edward Quartermaine was presumed dead for about a year." Seeing the interest in her eyes he explained. "He lived on an island for a year while his family and everyone else thought he was dead."

The man explained things with such glee that he couldn't help but remind her of her Uncle Gabe. That caused her to respond in kind. "What about this woman Katherine Belle?"

Luke gave a reluctant nod he hated to be reminded of Katie Belle and the blunder he continued to blame on his partner in crime at that time Alexis. No one liked to remember failure and that had been a blunder of epic proportions. What really burned his ass was not only did they fail to get Helena they didn't even knock off Katherine.

Meanwhile Bobbie had been studying the bill and her stomach sank when she realized the girl was probably right. "Rory."

"Save it, your expression says it all." Rory grumbled. "Why the hell did he have blood drawn when a mouth swab would have been so much easier?"

"He probably ordered the blood thinking you wouldn't get suspicious." Bobbie explained.

"Yet another reason to get pissed at him. Causing me unnecessary pain." Rory grumped. "Bobbie this is getting ridiculous he needs help, professional help because he obviously isn't wrapped that tightly. And why do you keep looking at him whenever I comment on freak boy?" She demanded when she saw the nurse glance at the man she'd just been speaking to.

"Because this is Luke Spencer, Lucky's father." Bobbie introduced them reluctantly.

Surprised and a little embarrassed Rory swallowed hard then decided the hell with it. Lucky was a freak and if he didn't already know that it was time he learned. "I'm sorry for you."

"Be nice," Luke warned her, but whether she heard him he didn't know.

"You." Rory cried when she spotted a familiar person.

Lucky's head came up with a start when he heard her voice and even though the expression on her face was less then pleasant he still smiled at her. "Hello."

"Don't hello me." Rory advanced on him. "What were you thinking sneaking my blood like that?" Seeing him flush confirmed her suspicions. "Your nuts your realize that don't you? What will it take for you to realize that I'm not your sainted girlfriend back from the dead?"

Puzzled and unsure if she'd heard correctly Carly paused in her approach then continued on when she placed the voice. Stepping into the large open space that housed the nurse's station she came up short to watch the confrontation between Rory and her cousin.

"I'll never accept it because it's not true." Lucky's voice was as quiet as hers was sharp. "You're Elizabeth Webber. The DNA test will prove that to you and everyone else. But I don't need any test to prove it to me. I know who you are already."

Frustrated Rory let out a muffled groan and paced away a few steps and decided to change tactics. "You may be right Lucky." She waited for his eyes to fill with hope before cruelly killing it. "Elizabeth Webber may be alive somewhere in this world. If she is I say more power to her. I can totally understand her faking her death to get away from a freak like you."

Lucky recoiled at her deliberate viciousness.

"Rory you don't understand." Bobbie tried to intervene.

"No." She cut her off determined to be as mean as necessary to get through to him. "He's the one who doesn't understand. He doesn't seem to realize I'm not Elizabeth Webber. That no one in their right mind would want to be Elizabeth Webber."

"Elizabeth?"

The soft question from directly behind her had her spinning around ready to blast whoever had dared call her that, but the words died unsaid when she met the elderly woman's eyes. The light blue eyes were filled with such hope that quickly turned to shock and then glazed over entirely. Rory only had an instant to try to catch the woman when she passed out.

"Audrey." Bobbie scurried towards her and Luke was there quick enough to take her weight from a struggling Rory. Everything was quiet as Luke carried her towards the small waiting room off the nurse's station and Lucky soon approached her side.

"Who was that?" Rory asked.

"Your Grandmother," Lucky identified her and lightly touched her arm to get her to look at him. "Don't you see Elizabeth? She recognized you just like I did."

Stepping back from him she shook her head at Francis when he began to approach. She was so tired of this. Tired of everyone in this town thinking she was someone else. She knew who she was and wasn't. She had very specific memories of her life. What was the big deal with proving it once and for all to stop all the questions?

"Who did you call? The Saint?"

"What?" Lucky asked in puzzlement.

"Did you convince saintly Sarah to come in and participate in your farce of a test?" Rory demanded.

Lucky nodded.

"Fine." Decision made Rory's tone turned brisk. "Have Bobbie contact me when she gets into town and we'll schedule a by the book DNA test in which all the parties are present and aware of what is going on."

A large smile blossomed on Lucky's face, finally she was going to know the truth. Once she did she wouldn't fight him anymore. She'd turn to him to help get her memory back.

"Until then you have to leave me alone. No more sneak attacks with stupid memory books, no more showing up where I am. You have to stay the hell away from me," she ordered.

As much as Lucky hated her request he decided to give into it. Even though he hated being separated from her even for a minute he didn't want her to change her mind about taking the test. "Okay I'll stay away."

"And once the test comes back and proves I'm not Elizabeth Webber. You never bother me again." With that Rory decided it was time to leave.

"Correction, once the test proves what I already know that you're really Elizabeth I won't leave your side until your memory returns," Lucky countered.

"Listen you little freak you keep talking like that and they'll need DNA to identify…" infuriated and more then ready to physical damage she advanced on him.

"And were leaving now." Carly intervened by taking Rory's arm and pulling her towards the elevator.

"I'll be in touch soon Elizabeth." Lucky couldn't help pressing his luck.

Pulling free Rory turned on him. "Have you taken a good look in a mirror lately Lucky?"

Uneasy with her expression he shook his head.

"Why on earth would anyone including _your Elizabeth_ want to get anywhere near someone like you? Your clothes still smell of alcohol, your eyes look wild and your quick slides into anger don't exactly foster trust. Any woman in their right mind would cross the street when they saw you coming."

Lucky's face lost all color, Carly pulled Rory onto the elevator that Francis was holding for them and Rory waited until the doors closed to begin cursing. Biding her time Carly eyed Rory in amusement. While Francis hoped they would wait to start picking at each other until they were out of the elevator. The space was awfully tight for these two if they really got to sniping the way they were known to.

Winding down at least temporarily Rory was the first off the elevator when the doors opened. Crossing the lobby she entered the courtyard and waited. As much as she'd like to keep walking she knew it would be better to stay and face Carly now rather then give her time to fortify her ammunition. Carly and Francis soon joined her but the blonde remained quiet until Rory's patience snapped. "Okay talk."

Carly barely looked up from her perusal of her fingernails. "I don't know what you mean."

"Knock it off Blondie I'm not in the mood. Either speak now or forever hold your peace."

Gauging her frustration level Carly decided to start. "So … Elizabeth Webber."

"What about it?"

"Nothing, it's just interesting," Cary's response was blasé.

Glaring at her Rory took a step closer to the blonde. "Its not my fault the stupid twit had my face and the freak upstairs thinks I'm her."

"Lucky can be a pain," Carly conceded. "But he does have a point now that its been pointed out to me I can see why he's so freaked."

Sighing heavily Rory perched on a stonewall that surrounded a small garden. "Did you know her?"

"I didn't know her." Carly grimaced slightly as a long buried memory came to her.

Rory saw the grimace and hoped it was something good, something she could use to counter all the how great Elizabeth was crap she kept getting shoved on her. "But?"

"The only thing I remotely remember about her is the time Bobbie made a comparison." Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rory tense. "One day she compared me with Elizabeth and summed it up by wondering why I couldn't be more like Elizabeth."

Stricken Rory paled rapidly and put a hand on her stomach. "I think I'm going to be sick."


	37. Bomb aftermath is a bitch

**What If…**

Chapter 36

**Courtyard**

From her current position Rory noticed several things. First of all Carly's shoes probably cost more than her entire hospital bill, next Francis went to the effort of shining his shoes, and finally it was past time she bought some new boots. Her favorite pair hadn't come through her misadventure with the cliff very well. There was more baldness then color on the face of them these days and that just wasn't kosher. Depressed over the thought of her rapidly depleting bank account Rory lifted her head from between her knees and glared at the smug looking blonde. "I bet you enjoyed that."

Seeing no point in lying Carly merely nodded. "Yes."

If she'd felt better she would take great pleasure in wiping that smug little smile off Blondie's face, but at the moment her stomach was still rolling at the thought of being mistaken for someone who was considered a role model. The thought was so horrifying she felt like going out and doing something so horrendous she would get her face plastered all over the papers and that way no one in this town could ever mistake her for Elizabeth Webber. Narrowing her eyes she studied Francis and wondered how he would be as a getaway driver in a bank job. Working for Sonny he had to have some sort of experience he could call upon that she could use to shed this goody, goody image this face of hers seemed to have in this town.

"I take it this is the reason for all the strange little moments that have been happening that no one would explain?" Carly broke through her plotting.

"Was it so wrong to want you to hate me for me, and not because your mother held my doppelganger up once as the beat all, end all you should strive for?" Rory complained.

"I guess not." Carly decided to let her anger with Rory pass and tack it on to the anger she already had for Sonny. "If it helps any no one would consider you to be a role model now."

Hearing a snort behind her Rory turned to glare at a placid face Francis before facing Carly. "Of course I'm not a role model. If I were would I be hanging around you Blondie?"

Relieved that things had returned to where they were supposed to be Carly retaliated in kind. "Listen Ms. Muffin Face I don't have anymore time to waste on you."

"Why you," insulted Rory began only to be cutoff.

"Given your resemblance to someone you want to remain nameless I think the name applies." Ignoring Rory's sputtering Carly was busy congratulating herself on the way all her meetings with Rory had gone that day. The congratulations were short-lived when she saw someone approaching that could kill a mood quicker then Taggert. Acting on impulse like she always did, she turned, grabbed Rory's arm and began pulling her in the direction of Francis.

"What the hells gotten into you?" Rory tried to dig her heels in. But if her earlier decision to buy new boots hadn't been made it would've been at that point when the heel of one of them gave way on the uneven pavement.

"Quiet." Carly hissed, reaching Francis she thrust Rory's arm at him then shifted until she was blocking her from view of any approaching person.

"What?"

"If you thought Lucky was bad you really need to leave now. His mother is heading this way and believe me when I say anything Lucky got he inherited it from her."

"Say no more." Rory nodded at Francis who had already plotted an escape route. "Thanks for the heads up."

"You ow me one shorty." Carly promised, although it was more like a threat because she always kept her promises. Watching their retreating backs she couldn't help wishing she were with them Laura always gave her such a headache.

"Carly." Surprised Laura faltered a step then hurried forward when temper came on. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Laura," Carly's response was cold and bored. Her eyes raked over her partner's appearance. No one would ever believe the woman before her was the partner in a major cosmetics corporation. As usual Laura was clad in black, layer upon layer of black, her paler then pale white skin broken up by a vivid splash of too bold red over her lips. Didn't she realize that while black could be slimming, continued draping of it made you look like a blob?

"How dare you speak to Monsieur Davida without me and after I already had a meeting with him. I'm handling this promotion, not you. He doesn't need to be confused by two vastly different visions." Laura began her tirade.

"The only vision you had was a nightmare and believe me Monsieur Davida knew it," Carly cut her off mid-complaint. "And speaking of the designer he was ready to quit the project after your meeting with him. He considers himself an artist and has no wish to create something a 12th grader could do."

Furious Laura stepped closer, but instead of backing off Carly moved in as well. "You don't know what you're talking about. I'm going for class here, which is something that obviously eludes you."

Carly's grip on her bag and her long ago promise to Sonny were the only reason Laura was still standing after that remark. Trying desperately not to give into temptation she stepped back, opened her bag, and pulled out her cell and pressed a memory button. "Elton I need you to get Monsieur Davida on the phone," she paused. "I don't care what time it is, get him now."

"What are you doing?" Laura demanded.

"Believe it or not Laura I was trying to be nice in my description of your less then spectacular vision. Apparently you need to her the truth from the designer you demanded we hire for the upcoming launch."

Seeing Laura pale Carly was catty enough to put on a superior smile. "Thanks Elton patch him through." Smiling mockingly Carly held out her phone. "It's time for your lesson in class Laura."

Glaring Laura took the phone but her glare soon faded when the person on the other end began to speak.

**Warehouse**

"When was the last time you actually balanced the books?"

"See you can get curious." Sonny smiled at his partner who gave no reaction merely waited. "I have accountants to balance the books."

Not bothering to reply Jason pinched the bridge of his nose briefly in frustration then got to his feet.

"Things up to date?"

"Yeah all six months worth," Jason's reply was terse.

Sonny caught the ledger that tossed at him. Maybe it was time to put those accountants to work. "Yeah?" All thoughts of whether or not to turn his legitimate books over to accountants faded when a knock sounded on the door.

Johnny opened the door then paused to take stock of the situation. Jason was quiet and standing stiffly by the windows. Sonny was seated, drumming his fingers on the desk, everything looked normal. Deciding it was safe he ventured the rest of the way inside the room.

"What's up?"

"You wanted to know if anything no matter how unusual happened around here or at the Harborview." Johnny paused for a second knowing that would all it would take to get Jason's attention.

"What happened?"

"The night crew at the Harborview mentioned they lost power last night for about 30 minutes beginning around 8:00," Johnny replied.

"You were home then did you notice anything?" Sonny focused on Jason who shook his head.

"We deliberately had the lights off." Jason focused on the guard. "Were we the only building without power? Did the backup generator work the way it was supposed to? Any problems with the special alarms on the penthouse floor?"

Holding up a hand to fend off additional questions Johnny answered them in order. "No we weren't the only building affected. Every building on our particular grid lost power at the same time. The power company's preliminary report is that it was a run of the mill transformer burst that happens occasionally when the circuits are overloaded, they don't suspect foul play."

He turned to Sonny before answering the next question. "The back up generator came on just like it was supposed to and powered the hall lights and stairwell emergency lights like its set up to. It also ran the elevators long enough to lower them one floor down to let people off before shutting them down entirely. Again that is what is supposed to happen. As for the alarms there were no disruptions on the penthouse level, no one touched the stairway doors. Everything worked like clockwork." He summed up.

"What do you think?" Sonny turned to his partner who shrugged.

"It sounds like all the safe guards you put in place worked like they were supposed to and this was just a normal power outage." Jason decided after a minute of consideration.

Sonny nodded in agreement, stood and grabbed his coat. "We better get to Alexis and sign those papers before she leaves."

Jason automatically glanced at his watch. "It's still early for her," he pointed out even as he trailed the others.

"Not since she married candy boy," Sonny spit the name out with such derision Jason couldn't help sharing a smirk with Johnny.

**Port Charles Hotel**

Night was almost on the city the final streaks of sunset's purplish lights were rapidly fading. Of course to call this provincial town a city was being generous at best, and delusional at worst. The lights, the city boasted could hardly compare to the lights of the Riviera. The shops available were hardly what one would fine in Paris. The hotel itself, while classy for this area was hardly 5-Star. The food, while passable was hardly high quality cuisine, and room service was dreadful. The linens were indescribable. Not only were they not at least 1,000 thread count he doubted they were even 300 count.

For all of these reasons and several others Marin was more than ready to leave the unsightly town of Port Charles behind him never to return. Unfortunately as with everything on this job he was delayed. He hated to be delayed, almost as much as he hated failure and he'd experienced both on this job so it had automatically become his worst job experience as a professional.

The valet had finally returned his dry cleaning only three hours later then requested and he decided to make a critical inspection over the quality of work while replaying the reconnaissance mission of the night before. The timing would be tight but he should have enough time to get into Morgan's penthouse and do what he needed to do before the lights were fixed. All he had to do was make sure he picked a time when all occupants of both penthouses were out. He'd discovered they didn't leave a guard on the door when they weren't there. That was very foolish in his opinion, but in this case very useful.

Spying a small mark on one of his Irish linen shirts Marin very calmly removed it from the hanger and brought it closer to examine. The small dark mark was barely larger then a speck and would be covered by the jacket he always wore over the shirt, but it was imperfection and that simply wouldn't be tolerated. Grasping the shirt in his large hands he tore it in two, then tore it again, and again, and again, with every tear he pictured the valet's face. Marin was smart enough not to draw attention to himself by complaining so he would have to settle for this to express his displeasure.

The last of the shirt pieces fluttered into the trashcan, and Marin's hands were red and felt raw by the time the anger passed and he was willing to focus on something else. The moment he walked away from the trash the issue of the shirt was forgotten. His attention shifted to the blueprints on the table and his face twisted into a grimace. He still hadn't been able to come up with the original blueprints, and as a result he hadn't found the missing square footage in the one penthouse. Even though the problem wasn't in the primary one he didn't want any surprises, he wanted to be prepared for any and all possibilities. As a result he'd attempted to track down the original architect and contractor who built the building. Unfortunately the contractor was dead and the architect was in Italy. He'd been tempted to make a quick trip to Italy to get the info he needed but his already impatient client was starting to get very vocal.

The shrill ring of his cell shattered the quiet of the penthouse and he knew without looking who it was. "Yes."

"_You continue to be a disappointment to me."_

Infuriated Marin stood and paced to the desk. "I'm almost ready to proceed. I just need to verify one more thing."

_"You've run out of time. I've just learned Rory Nichols has agreed to take a DNA test. I need to know what is going on before that test occurs. Either you get the job done in the next two days or I suggest you start running. You might make it a week, a month, perhaps even a year before I find you. But believe me when I say I will find you eventually and I'll show you what happens to people who fail me."_

"I don't like being threatened."

_"Then start behaving like the expert I believed I was hiring and do your job."_

The dial tone sounded in his ear. Marin carefully folded the flip phone before picking up the letter opener from the desk and plunging it into the blotter again, and again, this time it was Rory Nichols' face he was picturing.

**General Hospital**

"Are you feeling better Audrey?" Bobbie asked softly, habit had her checking her old friend's pulse.

"I'm fine." Embarrassed Audrey tried to ward off the concern. "I was caught off guard."

"That's understandable." Bobbie's instinct was to coddle but recognizing the signs she backed off to let Audrey take the lead.

"I'd heard about her," Audrey began, "I mean I heard there was a woman in town that bore a resemblance to Elizabeth, but I never expected, I mean I never dreamed," she faltered.

"Its okay Audrey. Rory took me by surprise as well." Bobbie touched her hand but didn't do anything else, Audrey was from a different time and wasn't as affectionate as a lot of people were. In fact in times of high stress Audrey seemed to withdraw even further. Bobbie couldn't help but remember the way Audrey had withdrawn when Elizabeth needed her after learning of the rape.

"Is that her name?"

"No her name is Elizabeth," Lucky interrupted. "And thanks to you Mrs. Hardy soon she's going to know that."

"I don't understand," perplexed Audrey shifted her gaze from one glaring Spencer to the other.

"Take it easy there Cowboy," Luke cautioned. "Don't go getting ahead of yourself again."

"You," Lucky pointed at him. "Don't get to tell me what to do." He was so thrilled that she'd agreed to take the test, he was determined not to let anyone ruin this day for him, especially not Luke.

"Like I ever could," Luke grumbled and ambled a step away.

"That girl is not Elizabeth." Audrey had processed Lucky's claim and quickly denied it before any hope could develop inside her.

"Yes she is." Lucky could see the confusion on her face and softened his tone. "She's confused that's all, she doesn't remember who she is. This test will prove the truth and once that happens we'll be there for her, we'll help her remember and reclaim her life."

Rubbing at her temples Audrey stood and to clear her mind. What Lucky was claiming was impossible. Yes the girl looked like Elizabeth but that didn't mean she was her. Especially when there was concrete and devastating proof that Elizabeth was in fact dead. Dealing with Elizabeth's death at such an early age had been extremely difficult. Someone dying young had always seemed pointless to her. But it angered her so much more in Elizabeth's case. Elizabeth had overcome so much in her life, she'd fought so hard to have a life, and was happy, so very happy for the first time in her life. To have it taken from her just when she was on the cusp of embracing life enraged her. It had taken months for that rage to settle into acceptance.

"Mrs. Hardy?"

"Elizabeth's dead Lucky." Audrey refused to open herself up to hope and go through the pain of loss all over again.

"No she's not." Lucky snapped and when Luke tried to stop him he brushed off his restraining hand and went after Elizabeth's grandmother. "You just saw Elizabeth."

"I saw a woman who looked like Elizabeth who had absolutely no idea who I was." Audrey's reply was brutally cold. Feeling the need for self-protection she withdrew physically, crossing her arms over her chest and bringing one hand up to her chin, and eyed the boy who had loved her granddaughter as much as her and shut his pain out. "The DNA test you forced the coroner to perform two years ago conclusively identified Elizabeth's body as the one killed in the explosion at Luke's. I must say I really don't appreciate the way you're using her memory and my feelings in this disgusting way. I'm disappointed in your behavior Lucky and have no desire to see you until you've come to your senses and realize that Elizabeth is indeed dead."

"Mrs. Hardy?" Stung by her words Lucky could only watch her walk away.

"Lucky how could you?" Furious Bobbie wasted no time going after her nephew.

"How could Lucky do what?" Delighted at the unexpected surprise of finding her son at the hospital Laura immediately jumped into the conversation she knew nothing about

Ignoring his mother Lucky focused on his aunt. "I needed to get proof."

"So you stole her blood?" Bobbie cried and when others in the lounge turned to look she headed for the nurse's station. "Do you realize how crazy that was? Even for a Spencer that was out there."

"Stolen blood?" Confused Laura trailed the others. Between her run-in with Carly, her eye-opening phone call with her designer, and now this conversation, this really hadn't been her day.

"You gotta admit it was a sharp plan." Proud Luke stuck up for his son. "His execution was what tripped him up," he turned to Lucky. "You needed to delete all references to the DNA test, if you'd done that you probably would've gotten away Scot-free. You copped the blood out of the lab right?"

"Its in the fridge at my place." Lucky admitted and though he'd never say it aloud he was pleased that Luke approved of his plan. "I thought I'd deleted all references to the test I must've missed one."

"Insurance companies, their the real blood suckers," Luke commiserated.

"What are you people talking about?" Laura demanded answers.

Fed-up and unwilling to tolerate Laura at this particular moment in time Bobbie turned on her brother. "You shouldn't encourage him. He could have gone to jail for what he did."

"Hell," Luke shrugged off her words. "If the boy was placed in jail the first time he could have been, he would have been in there at age 8."

"And you're proud of that aren't you?" Infuriated at the Spencer male ego Bobbie stalked off as fast as her four-inch heels would let her.

Unused to being ignored Laura stepped forward and raised her voice, her glare piercing first Lucky then Luke. "Will someone tell me what is going on?"

Lucky's gaze remained on his father who turned from Laura to look at him. Luke knew this was a test. If he interrupted his conversation with Lucky to explain things to Laura, his boy would be out the door. If he waited Laura would get madder and madder, but Laura was always mad at him these days. In the end it wasn't even a choice. "Bobbie does have a point. You did take a risk."

"Life's a risk. Growing up around you taught me that." Lucky stepped in front of and continued ignoring a still fuming Laura. "Now that you've seen her what do you think?"

Knowing his answer was going to be an important one Luke took his time. He popped his shoulder, stretched out his neck, scratched his cheek, then pulled a cigar from the inside pocket of his coat and began to roll it in his fingers.

Used to his father's tics Lucky watched and waited.

Finally he placed the unlit cigar in his mouth. "She was definitely the splitting image of Elizabeth."

Lucky smiled in triumph.

"But then she opened her mouth. And I got to tell you the words flying from her mouth were nothing like the sort Elizabeth would say. Especially not those shots she directed at you," Luke finished.

"Who took a shot at you?" Determined not to be left out Laura was trying to piece together what they were saying and give it some logical reason, so far she was failing.

"Rory." Luke threw her a bone.

"Elizabeth." Lucky countered immediately and Laura grew even more confused.

"Elizabeth's lost she's confused just like I told Mrs. Hardy, she doesn't remember who she is. If you add Jason's influence to her memory loss," Lucky shrugged. "Don't you see once the DNA test results come in and she realizes the truth about herself she'll turn to me and others who know and love her to get her memory back?"

"I admire the Spencer confidence when I see it." Luke smiled proudly even while a part of his heart broke. "But son, Audrey had a point, Elizabeth was identified and buried more then two years ago."

"Tests can be wrong." Lucky retorted immediately then instead of continuing the argument with his father he withdrew. "You'll see. Everyone will see I'm right. Once the results are back they'll prove that Rory is really Elizabeth." With that he turned and left.

"Will you tell me what is going on?" Laura demanded answers from her estranged husband.

Pulling the cigar from his mouth he smelled it wistfully and knew it would be awhile before he could light it.

"Luke." Impatience was practically shimmering around her.

"Let me tell you a little story about a girl named Rory who has the power to break our son's nose and his heart…" he began with a lilt in his voice.

**L&B**

When the hand closed on her arm basic human survival instinct overtook her. Screaming Emily yanked her arm free then hit the rack that separated her from her attacker with all her might toppling it over and sending everything on it falling on the person on the other side. A chain reaction began to happen and the next two racks also began falling as Emily ran past them and out the storeroom door. She thought she heard her name being called but didn't pause until she was out in the crisp night air of the parking lot.

Breathing heavily she bent over and sucked in some oxygen then rubbed at her arms, she didn't know if she was chilled because of the cool temperature or because of what had just happened, she didn't think she'd ever know for sure. Her coat and purse were inside the studio but there was no way she was going back inside to retrieve them. She'd hail a cab and take it home and Reginald could pay for it. Decision made she hurried for the street caution made her turn to check the door to make sure no one was following her. The move made her off-balanced and she fell into a car. Automatically she put a hand down to steady herself and could feel heat from the cooling engine that was coming up through the hood. Glancing down it only took her a second to recognize the car it took less than that to identify the person she'd just buried in boxes in the storeroom. "Nikolas."

For a long minute she stood there staring at his black jag and was severely tempted to leave him exactly where he was. It was his fault scaring her like that. If he'd answered her when she called out she never would've dumped the rack on him. By remaining quiet he'd scared the hell out of her so he was entitled to any bruises he might have received from the falling boxes. On the other hand he could be seriously hurt and his car was the only one in the parking lot, it meant she was the only available to dig him out. "One day this guilt complex is really going to screw me over."

Her return trip was much different then her flight outside the building a few minutes before. Now that she wasn't in a panicked rush her eyes caught little details she'd missed in her earlier flight to freedom. Things like Nikolas' coat on the couch next to hers, a stack of files and a briefcase on his desk, that hadn't been there when she'd begun her day in the storeroom. Apparently she'd dawdled, worried, or daydreamed for too long and gotten caught by him.

Bypassing his desk her steps slowed as she entered the narrow hall that led to the studio, she walked by the recording and mixing rooms, and the small recording booths and headed for the open door at the end of the hall. She half expected to see Nikolas standing there with that superior look on his face, the one only he could pull off, but he wasn't there.

"Nikolas?" Her voice sounded timid and she didn't like that. "Are you alive?" When there was no response she entered the room and headed for the side that had overturned racks. "Either answer me now or I'm out of here. After all your silent treatment is what started this whole thing in the first place."

"How do you figure that?"

Emily smiled in relief at his put upon tone, which verified he was okay before finding her anger again. Stepping as close as she could given the barrier of the stands, which were half on their side, the top half resting against the wall, the bottom tipped on two legs on the floor. She squatted down and peered through the boxes until she spotted him sitting on the floor under the third rack amidst a pile of boxes. The expression on his face was one of such disgust she couldn't help but smile. "If you'd identified who you were when I asked I wouldn't have pushed this on you when you grabbed me," she informed him haughtily.

"Do you think you could postpone yelling at me long enough to get these racks up?"

Emily was surprised he could sound regal even when sitting on the floor surrounded by boxes then shrugged. If anyone could sound regal Nikolas could, well Nikolas and more then likely Stefan. Of course she couldn't picture Stefan sitting on a concrete floor.

"Emily?"

"Just a minute." Stepping back she considered what would be the best approach. Finally she headed back down the aisle she was in when she tipped the first rack over and came to a stop when she saw Nikolas through the slat. "You push I'll pull."

Taking a look at her face he knew better than to argue so he followed her orders. Soon the rack was upright. Before he could say anything she moved on to the next rack and looked pointedly at him, sighing he crawled under it and pushed that one up, they repeated the process for the last one as well. Soon the only evidence that the racks had been tipped over at all were the boxes, CD cases, tape reels, and other miscellaneous items and boxes that littered the storeroom floor.

Leaving the mess for him Emily pivoted and left the room. She heard several thumps behind her and what she assumed were curses being directed at her in some exotic foreign language. Eager to leave she hurried into the main room and picked up her coat.

"When are you going to stop running away from me?"

"I'm not running." Emily's reply was defensive as was her stance. She stood on the steps, her feet slightly apart, her coat folded over her arms like a barrier between them. "I'm just ready to leave. I've been here much longer than I planned on."

Indecision was something he didn't feel very often. Princes were decisive. They knew what they were doing at all times. They were in control at all times. And more importantly, if they played the game correctly they were able to control the actions of all others around them. These rules had been drilled into him since birth. He knew them well and he followed them even without being aware of it.

But at the moment his head was throbbing where a box had hit it, and there were various other aches and pains on his body due to his misadventures in the storeroom. And he was facing his best friend who was griping her coat like a lifeline and watching him with wary eyes, and was poised on the steps like she was ready to flee if he made the wrong move. Weary he gave into temptation, let down his guard and collapsed on the leather sofa. "If that's what you want to believe go ahead. I can't stop you. But we both know the truth. You're running just like you've been running from me for weeks now."

The slam was subtle, but it was there, and no matter how veiled it was no one liked to be called a coward. Taking one step then another she cautiously made her way down the steps until she was perched on the couch opposite him. "Why didn't you tell me it was you when I asked?"

Nikolas couldn't help but shift a bit sheepishly although he'd never admit it. "If you knew it was me you would have been out of that room before I'd said two words."

"So instead you decided to scare me to death."

"Please believe me when I say I sincerely regret that decision." Nikolas gingerly touched his forehead to check for blood. "I was surprised at how frightened you became."

"I thought you were," she stopped when she saw his curious expression. "You shouldn't have done it."

"I agree and I'm sorry." Nikolas' apology was sincere. "However I do appreciate the end result. You're sitting here speaking with me. After our discussion yesterday I wasn't sure if you would."

Uncomfortable Emily refused to meet his eyes, she went to fiddle with her ring, and then realized it was missing. "I think we've said it all."

Taking a chance Nikolas moved quickly until he was sitting closer to her on the coffee table. Her eyes widened in surprise but she didn't move away. "Do you realize I never sat on furniture that wasn't made for sitting before I met you?"

Caught off guard Emily smiled. "I'm not surprised. Antiques are notoriously uncomfortably especially those found in mausoleums you were raised in."

"Actually I think Mrs. Landsbury would have been horrified if I had dared do such a thing," Nikolas admitted with a sly grin.

He said her name with such fondness her smile remained. "You really care about her don't you?"

Instinctively he tried to deflect the personal question but then made himself relax and answer. "Mrs. Landsbury's always been there. No matter what house we stayed at she was a constant. If Stefan had to travel she remained, Alexis may have come and gone, but she stayed."

"In a sense she raised you along with Stefan." She said the words either he couldn't or wouldn't say. "You might have had various nannies or tutors, but Mrs. Landsbury was your constant. I bet you miss her now that you live in town."

"I do," he admitted. "I thought about asking her to join me but the cottage is small even for Gia and I."

The quiet easygoing intimacy of the last few minutes vanished along with his careless slip of the tongue. Emily withdrew emotionally, then physically and that unfamiliar sense of indecision struck him and he watched her slip away. "I don't mean to hurt you."

"I know. That's why it hurts even more." Emily stood, countering Nikolas stood as well and the space between them narrowed considerably. She wanted to step back and get some breathing room but was blocked by the couch.

"I hurt you a lot don't I?" He really didn't want to know the answer but felt compelled to ask. When she tried to look away he touched her face and drew her eyes to him.

"Yes."

Her whispered admission almost broke his heart. "I don't mean…"

"I don't want to hear it," she cut him off breaking contact with him entirely she moved away. "Can't you see this is why I want to get away from you?"

"What good will that do?" All Nikolas knew was whenever she talked about walking away he got a knot in his stomach and he didn't want it to happen. "I'll still be here when you come back."

"You won't leave me with anything will you?" Emily's lament was directed more at herself then him. Smothering a groan in her hands she suddenly realized she had neglected to put on the bracelets and decorative rings she always wore. The realization she didn't have her jewelry on made her feel like she was stripped bare, like she had ventured into battle without any armament and was now paying the price for it. She felt naked, vulnerable, and alone and she was so tired of it. And now there was Nikolas. Pushing like he always did. Pushing for information that once said aloud would leave her even more alone.

"Emily?" He lightly touched her shoulder and the touch seemed to ignite a reaction. She turned to face him, her brown eyes held a shimmer of tears, but more then that there was a mixture of helplessness and desperation in them.

"You want the truth? Fine I'll give it to you. I need time away from you so I can rebuild my defenses. Once they're in place I'll be able to be around you again. I'll be able to be just your best friend and be content with that," she explained. "But right now I'm not there. You see at some point you shifted from being my best friend to being someone I wanted more from."

Emily ran a disgusted hand through her hair. "That's what you do Nikolas, it's what you always do. Or I should say it's what I always do to you. You see I guess I never got over my long ago crush on you. Because every now and then it flares up and I'm that stupid 15 year old girl with a raging crush on a guy who doesn't even know I exist," she laughed bitterly at the memory. "Only now it's worse. It's worse because you do know me, and I'm slotted in the role of best friend so I have to straddle that line of being your best friend and at times wanting more."

She could see the surprised expression on his face but couldn't stop the words. "Other times when this happened I got smacked in the face with reality walking in on you and Katherine rings a bell. But this time its different. This time you keep pushing me, you keep pressing me, you won't leave me alone, you keep touching me, hell you even me kissed me, and I have to find a way to deal with that. I need to take a step back from you and our friendship. In fact we may need to make the step permanent. By now I think it's pretty obvious that there's always going to be a part of me that wants more from you. And that means I'm always going to be hurt either consciously or subconsciously because you don't want the same."

By the time she'd finished ripping her heart out and exposing it to him she was breathing hard and it was the only sound in the room. She could tell by his expression that she'd taken him by surprise, so be it she'd taken herself by surprise as well. Maybe it was good he knew everything. As embarrassing as it was at least now he should be caring enough for her feelings to leave her alone.

"I don't know what to say, or how to respond," Nikolas managed finally.

"You don't have to say anything, in fact I don't want you to. You wanted to know why I wanted time away from you, and now you do," Emily stepped around him to pick up her forgotten coat.

"I do care for you."

Taking a breath she looked at the ceiling and prayed she could get through this. She knew she could if he would only be quiet. "I never said you didn't."

When she turned for the door he quickly stepped in front of her barring her path. She'd been brutally honest with him wasn't it time for him to be the same? He took her arms. "I said I care for you."

"I heard you," she tugged but he didn't let her arms go.

"You don't understand," he explained in the face of her irritation. "I care for you as more than a friend."

Surprised Emily stopped trying to pull free and stared at him in shock. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I just know I don't think you as just my best friend. I think of you in different ways. Ways I shouldn't, ways that keep me up nights."

"Really?"

"Yes," letting go of her arms he touched her face. "I thought about kissing you long before I actually did."

"You did?" The question came out on a shaky breath.

Nodding he softly touched her bottom lip. "I wondered what your lips would feel like against mine. I wondered how you would taste, if you were sweet or sinful. I wondered how much of an impact you'd have on me."

"Nikolas," she whispered.

"Then I finally kissed you. The wait was over and I knew the instant our lips met it wouldn't be enough. One kiss wasn't going to be enough," he leaned closer.

The memory of their last kiss and aftermath raced through her mind and Emily pulled back avoiding the kiss. "What about Gia?"

"What?" He blinked in surprise.

"Do you love Gia?" She demanded an answer even if the answer had the power to break her heart.

"Yes," his reply was automatic.

Stung Emily ran for the door. Catching her at the top of the stairs he spun her around. Incredibly hurt and furious with herself for getting sucked back in she struggled to break free. The struggle was lopsided and doomed from the minute it began. Nikolas soon had her arms pinned behind her back, her body pressed against his for leverage not to mention safety.

"Emily."

Ignoring him Emily kept struggling. Fed-up and frustrated Nikolas reacted in a way his ancestors would've approved of and the basest way possible, he kissed her. Emily's struggles continued for a minute but soon she gave in and kissed him back.

**Truck**

"How do I get myself into these messes?" Rory moaned and waited … and waited … and waited, then glared at her companion. "That was your cue."

"Sorry I thought that was just another one of your general laments against the world at large." Francis replied. Her less then kind response was blocked by his actions of parking the truck then getting out to open her door.

"We're really going to have to work on your flip attitude Mr. Francis," she grumbled, zipped up her new boot and slid out of the truck.

"I'm just trying to keep up."

Rory thought about it but decided not to waste a glare. She'd get him back later on. For now she took his arm and headed for the former restaurant that now housed a recording studio and clothing design building. What strangeness this town offered never ceased to surprise her. "Do you think I made a mistake by agreeing to take the test?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. Feeling her eyes on him he went on. "I doubt any test will convince Lucky. But if there are any doubts in anybody else's minds this should eradicate them."

"I know. That's the main reason I agreed to do it, well that and the whole blood stealing thing," she shuddered."

The idea of the blood theft didn't sit to well with him either.

"Let's meet Emily and get out of here." She was tired of thinking about Lucky Spencer and since she had yet to tell Jason she wasn't exactly anticipating the evening at the moment. Shaking off the thought Rory pushed the door to the business open. The unexpected sight in the middle of the room drew her focus immediately and she quickly stepped back and softly closed the door. "I think Emily's busy at the moment. Let's move on."

Curious but unwilling to show it Francis merely nodded and turned to leave. He tensed when he spied a figure moving towards them out of the dark of the night. Shifting until he blocked Rory from view, he appeared relaxed but knew he could have his gun in his hand in seconds if he needed to.

"Wait," Rory had spotted something familiar about the approaching silhouette. Squinting in the dark she recognized the newcomer and almost groaned. "Gia," she shouted the name. "That is your name isn't it? _Gia_?" Again she stressed the name. "Look Francis its _Gia_."

Francis nodded at her and this time couldn't hide the questioning expression.

"Why are you yelling when I'm standing right here?" Gia demanded from a few feet away.

"Was I yelling _Gia_?" Again she pronounced the name loudly. "I'm sorry it just with Mr. Francis here I get so used to speaking up I forget I'm doing it when I'm around others."

"Why do you yell around him?" Gia arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow in his direction.

"Ever since the incident he doesn't hear so good," Rory leaned closer. "We don't really discuss the incident."

Curious Gia shifted to study the tall brown-haired man in the suit.

"Bomb aftermath, it's a bitch." Francis informed her with a straight face and Gia quickly turned away.

Rory bit the inside of her lip to keep from laughing at Francis' unexpected help. "I don't think anyone's here. The door won't open so it must be locked." She demonstrated and hoped it would be enough to convince the girl to leave.

"That's because you're pulling on the door," Gia pronounced haughtily and moved past Rory. "It opens inward," she demonstrated with a slight sneer.

Rory made a face at Francis who nodded in agreement then followed the diva inside. Either her annoying loudness had worked or they had decided to come up for air. Whatever the reason Emily and Nikolas were now in different parts of the room and there was no sign they had just been involved in a kiss.

"Nikolas," Gia's greeting was warmer then it would've been if she hadn't had an audience. Crossing to him she gave him a kiss designed to show ownership.

"Tell Ned I'll finish another time." Emily's voice was husky and she refused to meet his eye or even look in his direction, instead she focused on Rory. "Ready?"

"Truck's outside." Rory was willing to provide the escape hatch. Emily quickly headed past her and because Emily was a friend Rory took the time to catch Nikolas' eye and give him a malevolent glare of warning before following her out the door.

Gia's catbird smile lasted until the door slammed. As soon as it did she dropped her arms and stepped away from him. "You didn't come home last night."

"I didn't think you wanted to see me." Nikolas was surprised at her behavior instead of attacking him she had her arms crossed over her chest and just looked at him. "I stayed at Wyndamere."

"You didn't have to do that." Feeling nervous she tugged on the end of one of her braids. It was a habit she was desperately trying to break. But one she still indulged in at times when she was extremely nervous or worried. "The cottage is where you live, where we live. It's our home. You should never feel unwelcome there."

Hearing the pain in her voice she was trying so desperately to hide Nikolas couldn't help feeling drawn to her and her pain. He also couldn't help feeling guilty for kissing Emily not once, but twice, and wanting to kiss her again. Gia had done nothing wrong, she didn't deserved to be betrayed like this.

"Nikolas?"

"You were angry with me when I said I wouldn't accompany you to Europe. You wouldn't speak to me, you threw things me at me, and the few times you did decide to talk to me you tried to pick a fight. I just wanted a night of peace for both of us."

"Avoidance won't help Nikolas," she huffed and stepped away.

"That's exactly my point," Nikolas decided to try to explain things again while she was being reasonable.

"What do you mean?" Pouting she crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

"You told me the main reason you wanted me to go on this trip was so we could work on our relationship."

"It is," stepping closer Gia touched his chest. "We need to reconnect, rebuild and we can't do that here. This trip will be great for our relationship."

"What point is it if we reconnect away from Port Charles?" Nikolas asked. "Sooner or later we'll return here, we live here remember. Why work on our relationship somewhere else?"

"Do you even want to work on our relationship?" Perceptive Gia pushed to the heart of the matter.

"Yes." His reply was automatic as his earlier statement of love in response to Emily's question had been. It was so automatic he had to wonder if he really meant what he was saying or if he was saying what he felt he was supposed to say. The idea wasn't a comforting one and even though it had a ring of truth to it he instinctively denied it.

Relieved Gia let out the breath she was holding in a rush. She'd been terrified she was losing Nikolas and that thought had hurt her terribly. She loved Nikolas with everything she had. In fact he was the only man she'd ever loved. She had no intention of losing him now, especially not without one hell of a fight.

**Quartermaine's**

"I'll be back in a few minutes." Rory shut the truck door and followed Emily to the side of the house. Her steps dawdled as the house caught her attention. It seemed to loom up out of the night and even in the darkness she could feel its presence lurking there almost taunting her. The house was mammoth and she had a command performance in it scheduled for Thursday at 1:00. The thought made her stomach lurch so she decided to focus on other things. "How are you doing?"

Emily shrugged. "Okay I guess. I'm relieved my mom's willing to get tested but I won't be able to breathe until we get the results."

"Jason feels the same way."

"I know." Emily agreed. She was still surprised at how both of her brothers had come together to help with mom yesterday. AJ had told her what had happened after she'd left and she'd been relieved they were able to look past their differences to speak up and help.

Rory studied Emily in the dim light of the patio trying to gauge her receptiveness to the next question. "I wanted to ask you about Zander. Have you seen him since … since you found out what happened?" She phrased the question as delicately as she could.

"He came around at first," she admitted. "I had to call in a favor from Sonny who pointed out to Zander that he might want to find a new place to live in another city. He even had someone give him a ride to the airport."

"I knew there was some reason I liked that guy," Rory joked.

"I just hope he stays gone." Emily muttered under her breath.

For Emily's sake Rory agreed but there was a part of her that wanted the ass to return just so she could get her hands on him. But that was a purely selfish wish on her part. "If he does make the mistake of returning you need to tell someone, either me, Sonny or Jason. Most especially Jason."

"Jason is the one person I won't tell," Emily insisted. "I don't want him to know what Zander did and what he tried to do."

"He won't judge you Emily."

"I don't care." Emily cried. "I don't want him to know. I don't want anyone to know how stupid I was for trusting him as long as I did. If Zander comes back I'll find a way to deal with it."

"Remember our conversation you weren't stupid," Rory snapped and waited for Emily to nod. "If that's the way you want it that's the way we'll play it. If the idiot comes back to town we'll handle him ourselves."

A ghost of a smile crossed Emily's lips. "If he only knew."

"He's too stupid to be terrified of mere women," Rory hesitated then decided it was time to change the subject. "You ready to talk about Nikolas?" She barely got the question out before Emily was up and pacing.

"There's nothing to talk about, were just friends."

"Right," Rory played along. "I always French kiss my friends. That's why my best friend is a guy named Harry."

"What?"

"Next time you decide to engage in some necking in a place of business you might want to lock the door," Rory played her ace and say Emily flinch.

"You saw that?"

"You don't really think Francis has a hearing problem do you?"

Emily couldn't help but laugh. It seemed no matter what was going on Rory could make her laugh. "Thanks for the warning. You averted what could've been an awkward situation."

"That's what friends are for," Rory waved off the gratitude to get to the meat of the matter. "Now about you and Nikolas."

"There is no me and Nikolas," she corrected mournfully.

"There is from where I was standing," Rory stated the obvious.

"No there isn't, not really." Too numb to be bitter Emily wrapped her arms around her stomach. "He's developed an attraction to me that much is true. But he just considers me his friend. He still loves Gia."

"Well shit." Rory snapped in disgust. "What is it with men lately? Did they all take a stupid pill or something?" Realizing she wasn't helping she focused on Emily. "Sorry."

"Don't say that please." One thing she couldn't stand was pity. "I better get inside. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay, I gave you my new cell number right?"

"Yes."

Emily gave her a hug in farewell then hurried inside through the patio door. The instant the door opened the sound of raised voices spilled out into the night. Apparently even the rich liked to have knock down drag out fights. For some reason that thought cheered Rory and she began humming off-key as she hurried to join Francis.

**Port Charles Grille**

"You okay about being here?"

There were too many people in the room. And some of their voices, especially the women's were shrill and carried throughout the restaurant in a way that no one liked. The clattering glasses and play of silverware were muted by the conversation, but the undertone remained. It was an uncomfortable room. One he wouldn't like to spend much time in, but since he had yet to spy a Quartermaine it was tolerable.

"Jason?" Sonny prompted.

"It's okay." Feeling Sonny's eyes on him he went on. "Did you forget all the times I stuck it out at the Outback?"

"Under Mac's glaring eye." Sonny laughed at the memory. "If we see a Quartermaine we'll leave and catch Alexis tomorrow."

"Fine with me." Jason wasn't about to argue. He was ready to sign the papers and meet Rory.

"You'll see her soon enough."

"Who?"

"Rory." Sonny's tone was patient if mocking. "You'll see her soon enough."

Tired of the subtle digs Jason struck back. "What happened with you and Carly?"

Smile fading Sonny's gaze shifted. "Nothing happened."

Jason's look was eloquent and said more than a dozen words could.

"Drop it." Sonny ordered.

Shrugging Jason shifted to observe the room.

Sonny withdrew into his thoughts. Throughout the day whenever he'd let his guard down he'd flashed on Carly's face before she'd disappeared upstairs. The look in her eyes was one he hadn't seen before and her brown eyes had haunted him. They'd fought before, hell who was he kidding they fought a lot. But this morning had been different and it was more then just her different confrontational style.

Carly's normal style was attacking, abrasive, in your face, but this morning she'd been quiet, the fire in her eyes tempered and somehow that made her words all that more deadly. Again hurting her was something he'd done on more than one occasion but the look on her face convinced him that this time the hurt was old and it had been ripped open and scarred over repeatedly.

Was her claim true? Did her perceived lack of trust on his part cause her to do the crazy things that infuriated him? He wanted to pass the words off as Carly's attempt to blame him for her stunts but the longer he thought about it the more he realized she believed what she said. More importantly he was coming to believe it as well. In the past he'd told her repeatedly he didn't trust her, could he blame her for not believing he did now, especially if he didn't tell her? And if a person didn't feel secure wouldn't they do crazy things?

"Hiya handsome."

Pulled from his thoughts by the woman in question he blinked and focused on his wife in time to see her kiss an unwilling Jason's cheek and take the seat between them.

"Carly." Jason's greeting was more subdued and he jerked away to wipe the lipstick off she'd just deposited on him when she tried to do for him. He couldn't help but notice she hadn't even glanced in Sonny's direction while Sonny had seemingly withdrawn even further. Leaning back in his chair, sipping his coffee, merely watching her with no expression on his face.

It didn't take Jason long to realize that the shrinking table was the last place in the world he wanted to be. Thankfully his cell chose that moment to ring. "Morgan," he paused, glanced at his watch then stood. "I can do that. I'll see you." Jason's phone call was brief but decisive. "I need to go." He jerked his coat from the back of the chair and slipped it on. "Tell Alexis I'll come back and sign those papers or I'll drop by tomorrow."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." Jason didn't offer an explanation and ignoring the desperate plea in Carly's dark eyes he turned and left.

"Looks like it's just you and me," Sonny offered softly.

"You're right." Looking at him for the first time she pierced him with a glare. "At least until a woman you trust. Your attorney Alexis arrives."

**Docks**

Night was full on Port Charles, so was the first vestiges of spring. Although the night itself was cool a person could stand comfortably on the docks and watch the water without fear of freezing. This time of night was always his favorite. The boats had returned from their daily exploits and the water had stilled from their passing. The warehouses along the shoreline were shut down except for those few that were running a night shift. And even that was okay because the light spilling through the small windows or doors was a warm soft amber that added to the ambiance instead of a bright fluorescent.

The rest of the lights came from muted street lamps, or the lights tricking out of the windows of the buildings that mirrored the waterfront. The view from the water would offer an additional view of the lights coming from the taller city buildings that were looming dark shapes and twinkling lights behind the smaller buildings of the waterfront. This time of night was perfect because the docks were quiet, the dockworkers had long since gone home and it was too early for the drunks or other late night denizens to come out and claim the darker spaces of the docks.

This was the time Nikolas Cassadine liked best. He always had ever since moving to town years earlier. Tonight however he didn't feel the normal appreciation for the beauty of the night as he stood on the docks and watched the water. He was too busy reflecting on the trouble he found himself in. He was in the unenviable position that no matter what he did he was going to hurt one if not both women he cared very much for. Searching the sky he couldn't help but wonder where he'd gone wrong. He was supposed to be in control of his emotions, in control of his surroundings. It's what he'd been taught since birth. Own the situation don't let the situation own you. It was time to take action. Resolute Nikolas pulled the cell from his pocket, dialed a number from memory and listened until a cheery but recorded voice came through the other end. "Emily its Nikolas. We need to discuss what happened today, what's been happening. You can't keep running away from me. Please call me."

"What the hell is going on between you and Emily?"

Lucky's voice was loud and carried over the docks to the stairs that led to Waters Street, stalling Gia in her tracks as she paused to listen to her boyfriends response.

**Jake's**

"If Jason's here you can take off and take care of that little matter we discussed." As usual Rory was talking and as usual Francis was nodding without talking. "Give me a minute."

The music was already amped up even though the night was young and Rory moved from the doorway and pulled her new cell out then had to dig for her phone book. The sooner she figured out how to program her new phone the easier her life would be. Losing her phone was yet another reason to curse her misadventure over the cliff. Finding the number she needed she dialed it and wasn't surprised when a machine picked up. "Uncle Gabe you there? Yo Clyde?" She paused. "I just wanted to give you my new phone number. I lost my phone and in case you needed anything like money and needed to contact…"

_"Hello."_

"Clyde good to hear your voice." Rory smiled at her uncle's predictability.

_"I just walked through the door and heard your dulcet tones coming through the machine. I raced right over," Gabe reached for another potato chip and shifted on the couch. "You said something about a new phone number?"_

Knowing he'd never change and loving him for it Rory rattled off her new number then stepped out of the way of a staggering couple who just left the bar. "How's tricks."

_"Not bad. I have a line on a real live one. If things work out she could be my ticket out of this life." Gabe bragged the frowned when he recalled he was mad at her. "You shouldn't have done that to me Bonnie."_

"Done what?"

_"Send my money to that woman," he shuddered. "I have to go over there every day and look at her photo albums in order to get my money. She has 13 photo albums of cats. Cats. Do you know how twisted that is?"_

Rory's laughter caused her uncle to curse. "At least you still have a place to live."

_"That's cold Bonnie, really cold," Gabe grumbled but knew he could do nothing about it. "How'd you lose your phone?"_

"I lost it when I went over the cliff," Rory replied breezily.

_"What?"_

"Thankfully I'm out of the sling and done with physical therapy. Although it should be my therapist that's thankful, one more session and I'd have introduced him to my version of the rack," she heard him sputter on the other end and grinned. "Let's see, what else has been going on?"

_"Rory."_

"I'm living in a penthouse that has a second floor that's bigger then our apartment in Jersey City, I have a bodyguard named Mr. Francis, who doesn't know quite what to make of me. I'm having a DNA test to prove who I am, I got a job, and am invited to high tea on Thursday. I think that's all for now." Spying Jason's bike and knowing it would drive her uncle insane she decided to end the call. "Gotta go, talk to you soon."

_"Rory!" Gabe tried but all he heard was a dial tone. Did she really say a DNA test? If she did she didn't know the trouble she was opening herself up for, the trouble she was opening him up for. "They would have contacted me if it were true." He muttered and yet he headed to the old fireplace and reached up inside the chimney and pulled one of his last remaining Cuban cigars from his hidden stash. This could get really ugly._

**Jake's**

"Hey." Smiling Rory palmed Jason's beer and took a long drink before kissing him in greeting. Setting the beer down she waved at Francis before taking her seat.

Jason studied her face. "You're in a good mood."

"I just vexed Uncle Gabe. That always puts me in a good mood."

"That isn't hard to do."

"Ha-ha." Rory focused on the bowl of peanuts, drew it closer to inspect it carefully then shoved it away she wasn't that hungry, yet. "I might vex you before the night is out."

"Possibly." Well used to reading people especially her Jason noted the way her hands had decided to trace the scars on the old wooden table. "What's going on?"

Rory's fingers stopped their dance over the table. He knew Damn'it, somehow he always knew. "I did something you might not like."

Hooking his boot under the bottom rung of her chair he jerked it forward until she was flush against the table then brought his own chair closer. Moving the empty beer bottle to the side he rested his elbows on the table and waited for her to continue.

There were times Rory hated the way he gave his undivided attention to whoever he was talking to. This was definitely one of those times. Averting her eyes she focused on the players at the pool table. He didn't speak, didn't try to prompt her, or pull the words from her when she wasn't ready, he merely sat there waiting for her to find the words on her own. He'd sit there patiently watching and waiting much like a panther would before they struck. He was infinitely patient and because of that she couldn't help but speak quicker then she'd planned on, even if the words were different then she'd thought.

"Did you know you have a complete sterling silver tea set in your penthouse?"

"I'm not surprised." Used to her tactics Jason's reply was immediate.

"You're not?"

"Carly was the one who originally decorated my place. She's really into status. She bought a lot of antiques and stuff I would never use because it was a symbol. I bet she stocked the place with everything she thought a rich person would have," his explanation was brief but accurate.

"That makes sense."

"What brought this up?"

"This guy named Reginald found it in our kitchen and it surprised me," Rory explained.

"Reginald was there?"

"Yeah, him and your grandmother stopped by," Rory began to trace designs on the table again.

Picking up on her nerves he covered her hands. "What did she want?"

Suddenly angry her head shot up and her eyes pierced him. "It's all Carly's fault. She tricked me."

"Carly?"

"Yes Carly and that rat bastard Reginald if they hadn't gotten me so off balanced everything would've been okay," she complained.

Contrary to how Taggert and some others in the business world saw him he was not anger boy, a person who lashed out for no reason. In fact he had quite a lot of patience, in his line of work he had to. But that didn't mean his patience didn't get tested at times especially when Rory was involved. In fact Rory seemed able to test his patience in a way no other ever could. The petite, muttering, ball of nerves could drive him crazy and take his patience without even trying and that was a bit humbling to admit.

"I really have to find an extra special way to pay Carly back." Rory stopped when Jason tugged on her hands until she looked at him.

"What are you talking about?" He asked with the last of his patience.

"Your grandmother showed up a few minutes after you left, ten minutes earlier and it would have been one hell of a sticky situation." Rory couldn't stop an unfamiliar blush from crossing her cheeks.

"She didn't." Jason didn't concern himself with what might have been.

"Anyway she invited us to lunch on Thursday. She said Edward would be out at a Chamber of Commerce meeting. I didn't want to say anything until I spoke with you but Carly tricked me into accepting her invitation. So we're having lunch with her at 1:00. And you can't be mad because you accepted for me without talking to me the day of my accident."

Instead of her nerves fading after she'd made her announcement she remained wound up and that was unusual. Usually after she let out a large amount of information in a rush like that she relaxed but not this time. "I can make lunch."

"Of course you can," she grumbled.

"Can I get you something? Another beer handsome?" A petite strawberry blonde in a jean miniskirt and baby blue tube top who was eyeing Jason like he was the last piece of chocolate cake, took great pleasure in interrupting the conversation.

"Two longnecks." Rory didn't even bother to fake good humor. "Do you need me to spell it for you?" She asked when the waitress lingered another minute trying to get noticed.

Used to this particular mood and behavior Jason widely hid a smile and kept his gaze on Rory when the waitress stomped off.

"Do you want to go to lunch?"

Jason's question was soft enough she had to lean towards him to hear. "Its not that, its …." she trailed off and began picking at the label of his empty beer bottle.

A loud shout and cheers erupted from the pool table so Jason shifted his chair until he was beside her. "Every time I mention my grandmother you tense up. Why do you do that?"

"I don't." Rory denied but couldn't meet his eyes instead she kept picking at the label and soon was treated to another thought. "I bet ladies don't even drink beer."

The waitress approached with their drinks. And perhaps it was the martial light she saw in Rory's eye. Whatever the reason she abandoned her plan to spill Rory's drink on her and instead slammed it on the table and disappeared.

"What did you say about ladies?"

Rory jolted when she realized she'd muttered aloud. "Nothing."

"Why do you care whether ladies drink or not?" Jason pressed and when Rory's fidgeting increased he knew he was getting close to the problem.

"Because," shrugging she sipped her beer.

Jason took her chin to make her look at him. "Because?"

"Lila Quartermaine is a lady." Rory admitted finally.

"I guess so." Jason had never considered it, to him she was just his grandmother but the term definitely fit her.

"And I'm about as far from a lady as a person could get," she summed up by taking a long pull from her beer.

"Is that supposed to mean something to me?" Jason asked. "I don't know what or who says what a lady is and I don't care. The only thing I know is you're the lady in my life and I want you to get to know my grandmother."

Melting inside Rory tried to hang on to her unease but it was impossible and the nerves faded for the moment. "You don't fight fair," leaning forward she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I didn't know we were fighting. If its okay with you I'd rather save the fight until after we eat. I missed breakfast."

Laughing Rory sat back and punched his arm. "In that case," she drawled and traced a design on the back of his hand with her finger. "I suppose I should share my other news."

"What's that?" With his free hand he reached for his beer.

"I told Lucky Spencer I'd take a DNA test." She waited for him to take a sip before dropping the bomb.

**Port Charles Hotel**

Darkness was something he'd always considered to be his friend and most useful weapon. In his line of work he'd learned to embrace and use the darkness to his advantage. His eyes seemed to adjust much quicker, he could anticipate furniture placement, and only needed to see a blueprint once to know it cold. Another thing he discovered was that people seemed to be afraid of the dark. Even in the so-called safety and familiarity of their own home they would shy away from the darkness. If they heard a noise the first thing a person did was turn on a light to chase the dark away. What they failed to realize was that it also gave their position away.

Given the fact it was after hours and the office was closed. Marin had decided to risk a small flashlight. The office was high enough and the windows were tinted that the small beam shouldn't be seen through the window. Besides the nearest building of this height was several hundred yards away. So as long as he muffled it when he was in the main room so no one in the hall could see it, he should be able to complete his work undetected. Professional that he was he made quick work of placing the bugs in the back office, before turning his focus towards the immaculate front room. Closing the door quietly he headed for his kit that was spread out on the desk and retrieved what he needed.

"Alexis are you here?" Jax opened the door and light from the hall spilled inside the dark room. It was hard to tell who was more surprised. The tall blonde in the doorway or the man crouching by the desk with a tool gripped like a weapon in his hand.


End file.
